Twenty-two people were told yesterday they would lose their jobs as one Otago business prepared to close its doors and another was forced to prune its workforce because of declining orders.
The owners of Central Otago Lumber, in Luggate, told workers yesterday that the plant was closing, with the loss of 12 jobs, while declining sales of beef patties in Japan and Australia forced the loss of six permanent and four casual jobs at the Anzco-owned Green Island meat processing plant.
Central Otago Lumber manager Gerard Haggart said in an interview a slowdown in building activity from Ashburton to Invercargill meant the firm had fewer forward orders and sales.
Most staff would finish work on May 15, with a skeleton workforce staying on to clear the stock.
The plant was owned by the Skeggs family, of Dunedin, and Les Wilson, and a staff member who asked to remain anonymous said workers were still trying to negotiate redundancy.
The Otago-Southland president of the New Zealand Meat Workers Union, Daryl Carran, said the Anzco plant was still operating two shifts a day and employing about 41 workers after yesterday's redundancies.
He said news of the layoffs was surprising given that food producers appeared to have had some immunity from the economic downturn as people chose to eat at home more often and eat cheaper products.
The company told him forward sales were weak and it had to act, and options such as a nine-day fortnight would not give it the buffer it needed.