The decision was taken in order to maintain the company’s competitiveness through lower labour costs in Romania. Over 400 Slovak employees have lost their jobs in an area in which SEWS was the main employer.

The company has always lowered its number of employees in Slovakia. Several years ago the Japanese company was one of the biggest employers in Topolcany. In May 2002 it had 1,129 employees and was planning to hire another 600 in order to produce wiring for the Nissan auto manufacturer. Nevertheless, the 2009 crisis resulted in two waves of layoffs in which over 700 employees lost their jobs.

Sumitomo Electric Wiring System (SEWS) started its investments in Romania in 2000, building a wiring plant in Deva, Hunedoara. The company subsequently built plants in Orastie, Tarnaveni and Alba-Iulia.

Sumitomo has over 6,000 employees in its four plants in Romania.

Japan’s Sumitomo corporation is active in the heavy industry, chemical industry, financial services sector, mining and metallurgy sector, electronics, constructions, real-estate, forestry, auto and IT industries, controlling companies such as Mazda, Dunlop, NEC electronics producer and the Sumitomo Mitsui Bank. (source: nineoclock.ro)