French tire manufacturer Michelin moves production from Poland to Romania

French tire manufacturer Michelin is set to close its heavy truck factory in Olsztyn, Poland, where about 430 employees work, and move production to Romania. The well-known brand, with 123,000 employees worldwide and overall annual revenues of nearly EUR 30 billion, says that the Romanian market offers lower operating costs, Profit.ro reported.

The company has been present in Romania since 2001 and currently has about 4,000 employees in the country, spread among its two factories in Zalău and the one in Florești, not to mention its commercial network.

Since 2005, Romania has become a regional center for Michelin's commercial operations in Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Bosnia, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia.

The French group will close the factory in Poland but promised that the 430 employees will not be laid off. Instead, they will be relocated to other units of the group to produce tires for passenger cars or agricultural machines. The French automotive giant has several factories in Olsztyn.

Recently, other companies have announced layoffs in Poland. The Swedish electric heater manufacturer Backer OBR announced that it would lay off up to 30% of its employees at the beginning of April, while Levi Strauss announced that production at the factory in Płock will gradually cease by mid-June 2024, with several hundred people losing their jobs.

Last year, Michelin also announced the closure of three production units in Germany and the transfer to Poland of the customer service center, citing "the lack of competitiveness of our German operations for European and export markets." The decision impacted over 1,500 employees.

Currently, Michelin employs over 8,000 people in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Just a month before, Michelin laid off 1,400 employees in the United States.

(Photo source: Tomasz Bidermann | Dreamstime.com)