Thousands of Honda employees have returned to work at the company’s Swindon plant after production was halted for four months in response to the struggling car market. The 3,400 workers have agreed to taking a pay cut until 2010 but are pleased that their jobs are finally guaranteed after spending the last four months worrying about the possibilities.

The factory was forced to close while the company decided on the best way of dealing with the problems caused by the global recession and the effect the economic downturn has had on the number of car sales and contract hire agreements. The motoring industry has been hit hardest of all and many car manufacturing companies are struggling to make ends meet, but the situation at Honda and how they have recovered could stand as an example to other companies who are still struggling. Their decision to temporarily close the Swindon factory has given them opportunity to discuss and make decisions about the company’s future as well as perform long-planned maintenance work. During the four months downtime the production lines were stripped down and rebuilt, and the entire plant was redecorated, wherever possible using existing employees with the relevant specialist skills or training. 

But it’s not all good news. 1,300 workers from the Swindon factory chose to opt for voluntary redundancy at the time of the closure, many of whom still have not managed to secure alternative employment. And although the employees returning to work now know their jobs are secure, their pay has been cut by 3%, or 5% in management roles, for the first 10 months. The reopened factory is currently only running at 50% capacity, with a predicted total production of 113,000 vehicles in 2009, less than half the original intended number of 228,000.

In short, it’s a small victory but the company is not out of the woods yet, Honda car leasing and sales figures will have to increase significantly over the next few months if they want to avoid any further disasters. The new Honda Jazz model, due to start production at Swindon in September, should increase sales and give a clearer picture of the long-term future of the Swindon factory. Not to mention as the economy begins to recover buyers will be taking advantage of low car prices as across the board from Honda to Mercedes, car leasing and purchase prices are cheaper than ever.

For great deals on van leasing and van contract hire

Related posts:

1. Back to work for Honda staff at Swindon Thousands of employees at Honda’s Swindon factory have been allowed...
2. What does the General Motors bankruptcy mean for us? General Motors, one of the largest car manufacturers in the...
3. Takeover could mean cutbacks for Vauxhall Thousands of UK workers are at risk of losing their...
4. How do People Afford Brand New Cars? While I was driving to work the other day I...
5. Advice On Getting Your Work Van Completely Covered For many businesses, their work vans are used everyday to...

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 5th, 2009 at 10:09 pm and is filed under 4x4 Jeeps. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.