State to offer special support dismissed Panasonic and Nokia workers

The state is responding directly to two announced mass lay-offs - one concerning the Panasonic plant in Krompachy (Košice region), where 441 jobs are to be scrapped, and the other one concerning closure of the Nokia plant in the Hungarian town of Komárom near the Slovak border town of Komárno (Nitra region), Labour, Social Affairs and the Family Centre (UPSVaR) general director Marián Valentovič said at a press conference on Friday. The centre has set up a temporary labour office directly at premises of the Panasonic plant in Krompachy to make it easier for the dismissed to sign on and gain advice on further options. At the same time, the centre has launched a project that should help around 100 people from the area to find jobs in three or four companies that have already conducted talks with the state on receiving subsidies for creating the jobs, said Valentovič. As for the Nokia plant in Hungary, which had employed several hundred Slovaks, the Slovak labour offices have already found jobs for 360 of those who had been dismissed and had signed on. In addition, Nokia's new owner Microsoft has offered to co-fund retraining courses for former plant employees. A total of 219 people have applied for the courses, of which 79 have already begun the retraining courses.