Home » Business » Builder BAM takes the ax: more than a thousand jobs at risk | Financial

Builder BAM takes the ax: more than a thousand jobs at risk | Financial

In total, the country’s largest builder has approximately 18,000 employees. The Dutch company is active in several countries. BAM expects this program to generate cost savings of € 100 million per year, which should structurally improve profitability. When asked, a BAM spokesperson says it is not yet clear how many jobs are involved. The desired savings, compared to the wage bill, would mean a reduction of approximately 1200 jobs, 7% of the workforce.

With the announcement, CEO Ruud Joosten, who took office on 1 September, immediately left his mark. BAM had a difficult time in the past six months as a result of the corona crisis, especially in Germany and Belgium. Due to the corona measures, construction there came to a temporary halt. But BAM no longer has fat on the bones as a result of huge project losses in recent years. For example, the country’s largest builder had to write off more than € 100 million on the construction of the new sea lock in IJmuiden, in addition to zeperds such as the construction of a museum in Dubai. BAM previously announced that it would phase out the activities of the so-called ‘International’ division.

‘Painful, but necessary step’

“Although this is a painful decision for the employees concerned, it is a necessary step to improve BAM’s financial performance,” says Joosten. His predecessor Rob van Wingerden left unexpectedly earlier this year. In recent years, he was unable to resolve the leak and steer BAM to a stable operating margin of 2%. In addition to the problems with its own cost control, BAM, like its peers, had to deal with the pfas and nitrogen issue, after the Council of State declared the Dutch nitrogen policy invalid last year.

The announcement is partly a deja-vu. A few years ago, BAM decided, after zepers, to structurally save € 100 million per year with the new construction of the NATO headquarters in Brussels. At the time, BAM initially focused on ‘low-hanging fruit’, such as purchasing and other costs. This saving has evaporated in recent years due to new project losses. For that reason, the knife is now being cut in the workforce.

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