DistantNews
Johnson Electric Lays Off 100 Workers in Niš Amidst Wave of Southern Serbia Job Losses
🇷🇸 Serbia /Economy & Trade

Johnson Electric Lays Off 100 Workers in Niš Amidst Wave of Southern Serbia Job Losses

From N1 Serbia · (9m ago) Serbian Critical tone

Translated from Serbian, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

TLDR

  • Approximately 100 workers at the Johnson Electric company in Niš, Serbia, have been laid off with severance packages.
  • This marks a continuation of a recent wave of layoffs in southern Serbia, with over 5,000 people losing jobs in the past year.
  • Critics blame poor economic policies and call for greater worker security and corporate responsibility, especially from companies that received state aid.

In Niš, Serbia, approximately 100 workers at the Johnson Electric company have been dismissed, receiving severance pay. This event, as reported by N1, is not an isolated incident but part of a broader trend of job losses in southern Serbia, where over 5,000 individuals have become unemployed in the last year alone. Miodrag Stanković, co-president of the "Niš moj grad" coalition, has voiced strong criticism, labeling these layoffs as a consequence of "poor economic policy" and a "continuity of bad economic policy."

Around 100 workers at the company "Johnson Electric" in Niš have been laid off with severance pay, which is a continuation of a new wave of layoffs in southern Serbia, where more than 5,000 people have lost their jobs in the last year.

— Miodrag Stanković, co-president of the coalition "Niš moj grad"Announcing the recent layoffs and contextualizing them within a larger trend of job losses in the region.

Stanković highlighted that workers previously transferred from companies like Benetton and Leoni also faced dismissals in March, underscoring a persistent issue within the region's industrial sector. He emphasized that behind these numbers are real people and families whose livelihoods are now precarious. The situation at Johnson Electric, where workers were offered severance packages, is presented as a recurring pattern, leaving employees vulnerable to sudden corporate decisions and lacking genuine job security.

These are not isolated cases, but a continuity of poor economic policy.

— Miodrag StankovićCritiquing the government's economic strategies as the root cause of the layoffs.

From our perspective at N1 Serbia, this situation is deeply concerning and reflects a failure of governance and economic strategy. While international coverage might focus on foreign investment figures, we are compelled to highlight the human cost. The article stresses the need for clear regulations, particularly for companies that have benefited from state subsidies, arguing they must share responsibility for their workforce. The call for concrete solutions—employment support and retraining programs—is urgent. Without a change in approach, Serbia risks perpetuating a cycle of unstable employment, where factories come and go, leaving workers without security or a future. This is not just an economic issue; it is a social crisis demanding immediate attention and decisive action from both the government and the companies operating within our borders.

Workers in Serbia still lack real security and depend on company decisions that can change their plans overnight.

— Miodrag StankovićDescribing the precariousness of employment for Serbian workers.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by N1 Serbia in Serbian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

More Stories

From Our Blog