Taiwan's UREC to slash workforce by up to 20% by end-2019

Its continued losses from its solar cell operations has forced the firm to streamline its operations.

United Renewable Energy Co. (UREC), which is said to be Taiwan’s largest solar energy firm, is expected to cut its workforce by 10-20% by end-2019 due to losses incurred by its solar cell operations, Focus Taiwan reports.

According to its annual report, UREC had a workforce of approximately 2,840 as of end-February.

In Q1 2019, UREC posted a $0.0084 (NT$0.26) loss per share after a $0.049 (NT$1.53) earnings per share (EPS) in Q4 2018, when the company reportedly took advantage of its financial management to offset the impact resulting from the weakness of its solar cell operations. But despite this, the company still incurred a $0.011 (NT$0.34) in loss per share.

With the manufacturer remaining in the red, its management has been forced to streamline its operations and shed losses through the reduction of employees, UREC said in a statement.

With the cut in solar cell production, UREC said that it will expand production in back-end solar cell modules and solar energy generation systems.

“The current solar production capacity ranges between 2.5GW and 3GW. Local news media have reported that the company is likely to cut capacity to 1-1.5GW,” the report noted.

UREC could likely lease out its plants in Linkou, New Taipei and in the Hsinchu Science Park, to seek more revenue, but continue to run its plants in Chunan Township, Miaoli and in the Southern Taiwan Science Park for solar cell module and solar energy generation system production, the report added.

UREC said it will help the affected employees to transfer to other divisions of the company or help them land new jobs.