100+ mine workers lose their jobs due to ‘business as usual’

A mineral producer significantly restructured its workforce during normal operations.

As many as 200 employees were recently retrenched across Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) mine sites.

FMG described redundancies from 9 and 10 March 2023 as nothing special and the usual way a company runs.

“This is business as usual for rapidly evolving global companies. We are always looking for opportunities for continuous business improvement to maintain our industry leading cost position,” a spokesperson said according to the Australian Associated Press.

Cost savings could be used to help the company expand its offshore presence.

“Right now we are growing globally and allocating resources swiftly to North America, responding to the Inflation Reduction Act. Projects such as Iron Bridge are coming into production phase soon, while our work in Gabon is just kicking off. As this occurs project staffing naturally ebbs and flows,” the spokesperson said according to the newswire agency.

News Limited earlier speculated the proponent planned to shed workers since the end of 2022. The media outlet also spread rumours that Fortescue Future Industries was also preparing to axe up to 500 employees.