Despite signing on to the Government's nine-day working fortnight job support scheme, Fisher & Paykel Appliances is reducing its workforce in this country by nearly 30 jobs.
Last month Appliances said the nine-day fortnight, running to September, would prevent about 60 redundancies after the arrangement was negotiated with its Auckland refrigeration assembly workforce.
Yesterday vice-president of investor relations Paul Brockett said six to nine people would leave Appliance's Mosgiel engineering design and dishwasher businesses, and about 20 people would leave the East Tamaki refrigeration and laundry businesses in Auckland.
About 30 people would also leave the company's Mexican refrigeration, dishwasher and cooking businesses, he told The New Zealand Herald.
The business deeply regretted the staff cuts but found it unavoidable because of the international credit crunch.
Laying off staff now did not conflict with the nine-day working week agreement because the cuts were being made in completely different divisions of the business, Mr Brockett said.
Only about half the job losses were pure redundancies, with Appliances having found other ways to downsize its staff, including attrition rates and retirements.
The company also appears to have had an $80 million funding lifeline extended for two months, the Herald reported.
Mr Brockett said the company had until June 30 to negotiate new funding facilities and the company would not be forced to sort this out by the end of next week -- the deadline previously announced in its NZX notice on its funding issues.
