Europe's largest shipbuilder, Aker Yards ASA, said Tuesday that a record order backlog will bring in at least 900 new jobs at its shipyards in Finland and France, plus hundreds more in local communities.The Oslo-based company said a team of 300 people in Finland and France spent more than three months reviewing the shipbuilder's business model for unit that builds cruise ships and ferries, and came up with 150 recommendations to improve performance.Aker Yards moved in on the sprawling but money-losing Chantiers de l'Atlantique in town of St. Nazaire on France's west coast and a smaller yard in an April joint venture deal with Alstom SA of France. The yards employ about 3,000 people.
The Norwegian group said a review of its practices showed ways to focus on core competencies, share practices and resources, improve supply strategy and simplify the organization.The new model will create about 260 new jobs next year at Aker's three Finnish shipyards in 2007 and about 640 jobs at the France yards over the next three years due to an increasing workload, plus more than 1,300 jobs in companies and communities around the French shipyards, the company said in a statement.However, Aker Yards said a proposal also calls for 240 mainly white-collar workers at the French yards to change jobs within the next three years. Aker Yards said it would provide training and support to help those workers find new jobs.Aker Yards has 20,000 employees at 17 shipyards in Brazil, Finland, France, Germany, Norway, Romania and Ukraine.