Some 11,000 jobs cuts in manufacturing sector in 2009

TIRANA, July 28 – Some 11,000 jobs were cut last year in the manufacturing sector, which suffered the global crisis effects after a sharp decrease in the export of shoes and clothes. This was announced on Tuesday by Bardh Sejdarasi, the director of the National Chamber of Clothes and Shoe Producers during a meeting of the National Labour Council.
“You must know that this was directly connected to the economic crisis, because these industries are not being able to keep their employees also because of lack of facilitations by government,” said Sejdarasi.
According to the Chamber’s data in euro, shoe and clothes exports fell by 15.4 percent year-on-year at the end of 2009 while imports dropped by 3.5 percent.
Manufacturers reiterated their calls for legal support asking for the removal of the profit tax for a period of 3 to 5 years, state support to the payment of social security contributions for new employees for 1 to 3 years as well as the removal of VAT and customs duties.
Some 30,000 people, one third of employees in the manufacturing sector, work in the shoe industry, which imports raw material from Italy. Some 70 percent of exports go to Italy and Greece, according to manufacturers’ data.
Falling demand in foreign markets, the increase in manufacturing costs and breach of contracts by foreign partners were the main factors contributing to the poor performance of manufacturing businesses in 2009, a recent study conducted by Albanian Center for International Trade (ACIT) has shown.
The manufacturing sector is considered vital for the Albanian economy and exports with an estimated 80,000 employees.
Referring to the ACID study, the Chamber’s director Sejdarasi said that 66 percent of employees working in the manufacturing industry intend to leave the country as soon as visa barriers are lifted.
The Albanian Centre for International Trade (ACIT), an NGO specialized in foreign trade analysis, has warned that that the decrease in exports by 8 percent last year shows Albania could be losing ground in the competitive advantage of the main exporting products such as shoes whose export fell by 5 percent.
Last year’s drop of exports was attributed to the global financial crisis and especially the situation in Italy and Greece where most Albanian products are exported.