Barbados: Arawak Cement redundancies

Arawak Cement Co, St Lucy, Barbados, have formally offered its staff voluntary separation packages as part of a financial and operational restructuring programme that was first put into action October 2015.

The company issued a statement last month explaining that the separation packages would be offered as the first phase of restructuring had not yielded the necessary results. The company statement read, ““This is due to the unfavourable economic conditions globally and in the region, that regrettably make it necessary to further reduce costs in all areas of our operations. With significant excess cement capacity in the region and highly-competitive price-sensitive markets, cost reduction is vital for Arawak to return to profitability and improve competitiveness in this market and grow export in the region.”

The cost of energy and labour combined with a slowdown of the construction sector were cited as key factors that challenged the business in Barbados. Arawak Cement said its energy and labour costs were significantly higher than that of its regional competitors.