Boral announces further job cuts in new restructuring plan

Building materials major Boral has announced a further round of job cuts, predominantly across its Australian operations, following a 100-day review of the company by its chief executive Mike Kane.

The company is to cut 700 functional, operational support and managerial positions jobs in Australia. Of those 700, some 200 have already occurred in late 2012, with the majority of redundancies expected to be completed by March 2013.  New South Wales is to bear the brunt of the cuts, accounting for a third of the job losses, with 20 per cent of the reductions coming from Victoria and Queensland and the balance spread across the rest of the country.

An additional 300 production jobs in Australia (185) and the US (115) are to be axed, including the 90 previously-announced job cuts as part of the decision to end clinker production at Waurn Ponds in Victoria, announced last month.

Mr Kane predicted the move would save AUD90m a year, with estimated savings of AUD37m  to be delivered in FY2013. Further savings totalling AUD15m are expected to flow from rationalisation initiatives, while redundancy payments will total AUD60m.

“Our more streamlined organisation will align with Boral’s operational footprint, which has become more focused through recent divestments, closures and capacity rationalisation activities,” Mr Kane said in a statement.

Boral reported 14,740 employees as at 30 June 2012 (including around 8730 in Australia). In FY13 Boral’s employee numbers will reduce by approximately 1000 a result of the new restructuring programme, coupled with recent operational rationalisation initiatives and outsourcing projects. The divestment of non-core operations in Asia and Australia means a further reduction of 1420 in Boral’s FY2013 reported employee numbers.

Along with the job cuts, Boral is also quitting its Thai operations and selling its masonry arm. A masonry plant at Prospect, in Sydney's west, is being sold to Brickworks, with National Masonry buying the other units in Victoria and Queensland.

The divestments of Boral’s Asian construction materials businesses along with the planned closure of clinker manufacturing at the Waurn Ponds cement plant leaves a smaller, more focused cement business. Therefore, cement division managing director, Mike Beardsell, will leave the organisation at the end of January. Ross Harper, who is currently in the role of Operations Manager, will increase his
responsibilities to become executive general manager of the cement division, effective 1 February 2013.