Increased mobilization increases staff shortages at ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih

If the mobilization in Ukraine continues at the current pace, it will mean less chance of economic survival for ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, less return on investment, less taxes and less money for the Ukrainian economy in wartime.

The company told GMK Center this when commenting on the current level of staffing amid the suspension of bookings in Ukraine.

As of today, more than 3,000 employees of the company have been mobilized to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In July this year, the company was even forced to suspend production due to a check by the Territorial center of acquisition, as an employee who sets up the rolling mill and is the only specialist on the shift was taken to the Territorial center of acquisition.

“The company has already transferred many employees to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and the mobilization process is ongoing because the war is on. Now every person is important to us in production, and the company wants to work with the people we have. Sudden raids, raids at the checkpoint, sudden changes in legislation – all this affects the stable and efficient operation of the enterprise. With every change in legislation, we have another outflow of employees,” says ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih.

Given the criticality of the situation, the company even offered suggestions on how to improve the booking mechanism.

“The company appealed to the government with a proposal to balance the approach to the mobilization process so that our industry could have a guarantee of having enough staff to work and survive. In particular, it was a call to include mining and metals companies in the list of critical infrastructure and defense sector enterprises so that we could book 100% of the staff,” the company said.

As GMK Center reported earlier, the Cabinet of Ministers decided to audit the decisions on assigning the status of critical enterprises by November 15, which effectively stopped the booking approval procedures for businesses. The government should receive the audit report by November 20.

For its part, Ukrainian business believes that the booking policy should be transparent, predictable and balanced. The main message that specialized associations convey to the state is that the policy of organizing reservations for employees subject to military service should not be changed so often.