The UK tops a European list for the number of job losses during the second quarter of 2007.
A quarterly report published by the European Restructuring Monitor (ERM) found that 72,051 job cuts were announced in Europe from 1 April and 30 June 2007 as a result of 335 company restructuring cases.
The UK leads the way, followed by Poland, Italy, The Netherlands and Germany, which all contribute 67% towards the total.
Internal restructuring is the reason for more than half of job cuts, followed by bankruptcy/closure (21%) and merger/acquisition (15%). Offshoring and “delocalisation” represent 3% of all jobs lost.
Over the same period, however, 95,588 new jobs were announced, and according to the ERM, 97% of all planned new jobs are created through expansion of business activities.
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The largest single job loss announcement was at Citigroup, where 17,000 jobs across the world are to go, while telecommunications group Foxconn announced the largest job expansion, of 5,000 jobs in the Czech Republic.
The ERM is a tool that records industrial restructuring cases as reported in the press.
