More than 10,000 people lose their jobs in Turkey in one month

Referans business daily reported on Tuesday that the job cuts came after Turkish companies began to feel the squeeze of the global slowdown and increased uncertainty.Â

 

The Turkish economy had started to be influenced by the global financial crisis as growth slowed, the dollar rose sharply and fund inflows turned outflows.

 

An executive of a leading Turkish headhunter, Data Expert, said job cuts had intensified in the banking, retail and construction sectors.

 

"Approximately 8,000 people in the banking and 3,000 people in the retail sector lost their jobs in a month. Those working in shops have been laid off in the retail sector. Lastly, the job cuts spread to the construction. Mostly salespersons in the construction sector have been laid off," Hasan Altunkaya, the chairman of Data Expert told Referans.

 

Altunkaya added the demands from companies to hire new workers had fallen by around 60-70 percent recently and foreign firms planning to invest in Turkey had put the brakes on.

 

The Turkish government has been under fire for not taking the necessary steps to avoid more severe consequences from the global financial crisis.

 

The government had long denied the possibility of an economic crisis ahead of the local elections in March 2009 but now is working hard to secure a stand-by deal with the IMF including financial support. Many experts, however, say a new IMF deal may no longer be adequate.

 

BURSA DISTRESSED

Alarm bells have been ringing for Bursa, Turkey's fourth largest city in terms of economic activity.

 

Referans said 5,700 people were laid off in the last month in the textile and automotive sectors, which dominates industrial activity in Bursa.

 

Total job cuts exceed 10,000 when added to those laid off in the Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs), Referans reported.

 

Bursa meets around 8-9 percent of Turkey's industrial production. Forty-five percent of the city's employment is in industry, 45.2 percent in services, 5.1 percent in agriculture and 4.4 percent in construction.

 

COMPANIES CUT COSTS

Other human resources companies also agree with Altunkaya, saying many firms have launched measures to cut costs and implement a more conservative approach.

 

The banking sector, in particular, grew rapidly in the last three years resulting in the hiring of many new people, said Murat Demiroglu the manager of Human Resources Services of PricewaterhouseCoopers.

 

Companies are increasingly focusing on training existing staff rather than hiring new people, Demiroglu was quoted as saying by Referans.