Škoda Auto will stop production for a week from September 27 due to a lack of chips

From September 27, the Mladá Boleslav carmaker Škoda Auto will completely stop production in all three of its plants in the Czech Republic for a whole week. The reason is the lack of chips that are used in on-board electronics. This was stated today by the weekly Škodovácký odborář.

According to the unions, the company planned a mass holiday for Monday, September 27, because Tuesday the 28th is St. Wenceslas Day. Employees would have four days off at the weekend. At the same time, we will continue to do so by canceling shifts until the end of the week, including the overlap into Saturday's shifts of the seventeen and eighteen-shift system.

Employees receive 85 percent of the average salary for a canceled shift, which includes, for example, extraordinary annual bonuses. They are thus at the level of their daily earnings. According to Povšík, however, there is a risk that wage compensation will have to be reduced if the situation continues to deteriorate. According to him, people working in Škoda would then receive, for example, 80 percent of the average salary. The set minimum wage compensation is 60 percent.

According to unions, there are shutdowns in Volkswagen Group factories around the world. "Some high-margin companies, such as Porsche and Audi, are partially preferred. Planned outages are especially important for planning suppliers and logistics flows," said Povšík.

The shutdown in production will be used to repair the busy roundabout in Mladá Boleslav in Průmyslová Street, which the builders will also extend by one lane. "This will significantly relieve traffic and speed up the exit from the 13th gate. In normal operation, such a building modification would cause incredible chaos," said Povšík.

According to the union leader, the situation with chips has improved slightly, the factories in Malaysia have already resumed their production, but not yet to the maximum. Povšík estimates that full production, including overtime, will not start until the end of the year. "The situation is unlikely to be consolidated in 2022 either, at least at the beginning of the year in the first and second quarters," he said.

At the same time, Povšík stated that the unions, in cooperation with the company, will keep employment at the highest possible level. "There may be partial transfers of employees, but always under the full control of the KOVO departments at Škoda Auto," he said. According to him, the situation is worse with the transition to electromobility, when the number of employees corresponds to the types of assigned products within the group. "We can handle what is happening with chips now," he added.

Source: CTK