OKD mining company starting massive lay-offs

The mining company OKD will lay-off 700 people in January in connection with the phase-out of black coal mining in the Karvina region.

Two mines are due to close at the start of the year and more than 2,000 people will gradually lose their jobs, with the redundancies due to begin next week.

Two hundred employees will be moved to mitigation work after the mines close, others will be transferred to the state-owned company Diamo.

The phasing-out of coal mining is expected to have a big impact on the labour market in the Moravia-Silesia region.