RTC owner could lay off 1,000 employees

Octavian Radu, manager of the RTC group, which includes eight divisions generating around 300 million euros in 2007, will give up around 20% of his employees if the revenues of his companies continue to drop at a similar rate as that recorded over the last two months. The businessman is already talking about a 40% decline in volumes of stationery delivered and an up to 20% sales decline in the Diverta store chain. “In December, we cut our staff by around 1%, from around 5,100 people, and January was more difficult, so we laid off another 100-200 people. The opening of the new stationery storage facility and closure of the old one alone meant personnel was cut from 340 to 100 people. If things carry on in the same manner, we could end up with 4,500 or even 4,000 employees by the end of the year, in the context where we also hired staff on segments which have seen growth, such as fashion retail and coffee shops,” said Octavian Radu, who has already taken into consideration the bleakest scenarios for his business in 2009.