The world’s largest photo voltaic producer has slashed almost a 3rd of its workforce after a cost-cutting drive that included telling workers to solely print in black and white fell quick and as a chill ripples by way of the renewable power sector.
China’s Longi is to chop as a lot as 30% of its workforce, in an acceleration of price reductions that started late final yr, Bloomberg reported.
It’s unclear precisely what number of jobs will probably be misplaced on the firm, which employed 80,000 at its peak final yr, as an inner perform permitting staff to see the entire variety of workers has reportedly been disabled.
The renewables trade is dealing with important headwinds within the fallout from Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. Moscow’s discount in fuel provides into continental Europe left governments scrambling to beef up home energy era, accelerating a shift in the direction of renewables.
Nevertheless, the ensuing increased power payments pushed up inflation charges, including prices to renewables provide chains already below strain from the surge in demand. In the meantime, oil and fuel corporations have retrenched from inexperienced tasks in favour of conventional high-margin fossil gas tasks.
Consequently, renewables corporations have been pausing tasks and reducing jobs in an try and rebalance their portfolios. The photo voltaic trade has a historical past of boom-and-bust cycles, dictated sometimes by authorities insurance policies.
China is the centre of the world’s solar supply manufacturing industries and a proliferation of recent factories devoted to the expertise has created fierce competitors.
Longi producers wafers – a element utilized in photo voltaic panels. The corporate, primarily based in Xi’an in central China, has been compelled to droop funding plans whereas additionally reducing costs.
Earlier than the job cuts, the corporate beforehand tried to scale back prices by way of a sequence of smaller measures. These included cancelling free afternoon tea, reducing enterprise journey budgets and informing workers that they have to solely print in black and white except they acquired permission, Bloomberg reported. Longi’s Shanghai workplace has reportedly stopped providing free espresso.
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The photo voltaic firm’s internet revenue fell sharply final yr, down by 44% to 2.52bn yuan (£275m) within the third quarter of 2023. Its shares have fallen about 70% from their 2021 peak.
Longi has been contacted for remark.
