After KTM insolvency

Foundation to cushion the blow for 750 employees

750 employees are facing redundancy at KTM.

(Bild: Wenzel Markus)

Following the insolvency filing of motorcycle manufacturer KTM, a total of 750 employees are facing redundancy. This was announced after a round table in Linz on Thursday. The province of Upper Austria and AMS are setting up an insolvency foundation with 300 places for them and possibly others affected by job losses.

This was announced by Markus Achleitner (ÖVP), Upper Austrian Councillor for Economic Affairs, after the meeting with AMS Regional Managing Director Iris Schmidt and the social partners on Thursday. The foundation is financed 50 percent each by the state and the Public Employment Service Austria (AMS). Achleitner is assuming around 10,000 euros per person - i.e. a total of 3 million euros. "Entry will be possible from January at the latest," said AMS boss Schmidt, outlining the time frame. Those affected may be in the foundation for up to four years. However, it is not only available to KTM, but to all companies throughout Upper Austria across all sectors.

250 dismissed, 500 more to follow
Around 3,600 employees are affected by the KTM insolvency. A total of 750 employees of KTM AG and its subsidiaries KTM Components GmbH and KTM F&E GmbH, which are also insolvent, are likely to lose their jobs. So far 250 people have been made redundant, 500 more are to follow according to the restructuring plan - it is unclear exactly when. "I don't think those affected know who that will be yet," says Andreas Stangl, President of the Upper Austrian Chamber of Labor.

"It won't stay with KTM"
According to Achleitner, experience shows that around 25 percent of redundant employees go to the foundation. That would be around 150 of the 750 KTM employees facing redundancy, he calculated. But: "It won't stay with KTM," he is convinced, so "we are now setting up an insolvency foundation with 300 places, as a precautionary measure and with the aim of needing as few of them as possible".