RTRS: S.Africa's union says Gold Fields to cut staff by 10 pct
Gold Fields (GFIJ.J), the world's No. 4 gold producer, plans to cut as much as 10 percent of its workforce through voluntary layoffs, a union official said on Wednesday.
"Gold Fields wants to retrench (lay off) 10 percent of workers, but it won't be forced retrenchments," said Shane Coshane, spokesperson for the National Union of Mineworkers.
Gold Fields spokeswoman Marritt Claassens declined to comment, saying the company would issue a statement later in the day.
Gold Fields, which also trades in New York and the Dubai International Financial Exchange, employs 47,000 permanent staff. In January it unveiled a four-fold increase in its December quarter earnings. [ID:nLT740898]
Gold Fields is the latest in the mining sector to unveil job cuts, after Anglo Platinum (AMSJ.J) reported it plans to cut 10,000 jobs by year-end and Lonmin (LONJ.J) will reduce its staff by 4,000 due to weak demand for commodities.
Last month the union said Gold Fields was considering laying off 1,500 workers in South Africa.
