Meyer Turku, the Finnish cruise ship builder, said it has closed the negotiations concerning permanent lay-offs, resulting in a much lower number than at first planned.

The company will permanently lay off 84 people from outfitting and design functions. The number includes nine blue-collar and 75 white-collar workers. “Together with the lay-off numbers announced in August, Meyer Turku will lay off 250 people. Part of the reduction of the workforce is done through retirement and other personnel arrangements. The original estimation at the start of the YT negotiations in April was 450 people,” the company said in a statement. 

YT refers to the Finnish legislation that requires talks to be held between the employer and staff in case e.g. the personnel would have to be reduced.

“Unfortunately we have to take some painful steps to adjust to the actual market situation that obviously has changed dramatically during this year. We are continuously working on securing the future of the yard on a long term basis”, CEO Tim Meyer said. The people concerned will be offered personal guidance, support and specialized training to ease the transition.

In August, Meyer Turku concluded an agreement with its customers to stretch the fixed order book to reach until 2026. This is an important step to stabilise the entire Finnish cruise ship building cluster until the market situation for new orders recovers again.