Dacia set to launch voluntary exit scheme amid market upheaval

Romanian Dacia (Renault) is initiating a "voluntary departures" programme for its employees as part of a restructuring effort. The programme will begin on 1 October, and employees who sign up in September will receive severance packages of up to €38,000.

The severance pay for departing employees depends on their length of service, with the highest amount reaching up to €38,000, as reported by Digi24.ro on Monday. According to Profit.ro, which first reported on the restructuring programme, the target number of employees to be dismissed has not been specified.

Digi24.ro notes that Dacia is organising "voluntary departure" programmes, with the last one taking place in 2022. The portal writes that the programme's announcement comes amid "turbulent events" in the automotive market, which have seen several industry giants announce layoffs and restructuring.

The reasons include, among other things, the start-up of the production line for the Dacia Jogger model in Morocco. Additionally, layoffs will affect departments subject to robotisation and automation, thus requiring less personnel.

The implementation date for the voluntary departure programme is 1 October, and employees are to sign up from 9 to 20 September, Profit.ro reported, citing a letter sent to factory employees.

The lowest payout—€4,500—will be given to those with up to two years of service, and it will increase depending on the number of years worked. The highest amount will go to those who have been with the company for over 16 years—€38,000. Higher amounts will also be given to employees with occupational diseases or workplace injuries (€42,000, irrespective of their length of service).

According to Profit.ro, the Romanian factory will complete its production of the Jogger this year, which will be moved to Tangier in Morocco. The Dacia Bigster will replace it initially, but the quantities produced will be smaller. By 2026, two more models will be allocated to the Romanian factory.

Profit.ro notes, citing ACEA statistics, that Romania has one of the lowest rates in the EU regarding the number of cars per automotive industry employee. The factories in Mioveni (Dacia) and Craiova (Ford) achieve an annual rate of 3.2 cars per employee, whereas the EU average is 5.4 vehicles. At the same time, Romania is among the countries with the highest number of employees in the automotive industry. 160,000 are employed, representing 14.5 per cent of all production workers, making it the third highest in the EU.

The Dacia factory in Mioveni has been operational since 1968. In 1999, Dacia became part of the Renault Group.