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Swedish CEO 'lays himself off' rather than fire more workers

Published: 15 May 09 09:00 CET | Double click on a word to get a translation
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/19462/20090515/

The head of a manufacturing company in Örnsköldsvik in eastern Sweden decided he’d rather quit than lay off more employees.

Mats Melbin had already let 25 employees go from Örnalp Unozon in January when he learned that an additional 35 employees would likely have to lose their jobs in order to cut costs.

The combined cuts would have cut the total number of employees at Örnalp Unozon in half.

But Melbin had had enough after the first round of job cuts, and opted instead to tender his own resignation, reports the Örnsköldsviks Allehanda newspaper.

“He advocated for a reduction in employees’ working hours instead of giving them notice. He refused to fire any more people and carry out the decision of the parent company Vinovo,” said the union steward to the newspaper

The head of the Vinovo investment company, which owns 91 percent of Örnalp Unozon, said the decision resulted from a disagreement between Melbin and the company’s board.

“I’d like to express it as a problem of confidence due to a lack of consensus between the board and the CEO,” Vinovo chief David Malmström told Örnsköldsviks Allehanda.

Vinovo has already named a new CEO to take over operations at Örnalp Unozon.

TT/David Landes (news@thelocal.se)

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09:52 May 15, 2009 by peropaco
my respects to this guy... Finally we read about a CEO willing to take the fall rather than continue to lay his employees off. That crow neck and grand putana Annika Falkengren should lear a bit of humanity from Mats Melbin..
12:19 May 15, 2009 by summer
Extra ordinary Melbin who lead by example. lnfact A+++ personality
13:32 May 15, 2009 by truth
I love this kind of CEO....You are really great...and i hope you will be the ideal in your company before this decision as well....Great Personality
14:22 May 15, 2009 by eZee.se
Way to go Mats, leading instead of being led!

Respect to you.
16:54 May 15, 2009 by mandania
You have done what other person would not even dreamt of. You have courage and heart to do in this difficult times. Hats off to you sir!
17:03 May 15, 2009 by Plowbridge H. Broad
A highly admirable decision. He should get recognised by the country for doing something that shames the very high majority of greedy capitalists.
17:17 May 15, 2009 by Markbase with an Invisible Q
Meh. He's probably been embezzling for years anyway.

(Hold your fire - joke.)
18:04 May 15, 2009 by Paulo +fab muscular than Jonnhy
Sorry, dudes I don't want to disappoint you, however they will inevitably have to find another CEO or is the company going to be managed by the remaining employees? Well, everything is possible though it's not a common practice.

If this CEO quit the company because he believed he wasn't an asset anymore...ok, they'd better look for somebody else more qualified, but will the salary of a highly skilled CEO be lower than the previous one? I doubt.

If the company was trying to cut down costs then the brand new CEO won't have too many options if this economic downturn gets worse which is unfortunately the predictions for 2009 and perhaps only a possible slow recovery in 2010 --- Chances are that they might lay off other employees.
18:20 May 15, 2009 by Plowbridge H. Broad
You can run a business without a CEO. There are other levels of senior management.
20:22 May 15, 2009 by tewodros
From hopeless refugee camp, Sweden… ….Tewodros …

On one hand ,it seems to be a good decision for those people working in that company who were at the risk of being laying off , as they fell that they r safe, at least temporarily . Even any rational reader of this news without business background may appreciate the generous personality of the CEO ,since he has given priority for his subordinates ,benefited others at his and his families expense .Just like Christ who nailed to the cross to save his followers .

On the other hand it is at this kind of bad time in the market the capacity of the CEO to solve problems can be measured . In fact ,if Mats Melbin resignation is the solution for the manufacturing company to survive in the business retaining those poor employee , of course , he was on the right track .But for me the decision of Mats Melbin is comparable to the Dr who leave his patient untreated while suffering and about to die.
20:49 May 15, 2009 by Nilspet
respect to you Sir. Yes the company can run without a CEO ..it is true in many Asian countries and they seem to perform well without some greedy CEO.
20:49 May 15, 2009 by tewodros
I don't think the next CEO after Mats Melbin will take the same measure. Rather he will look for other alternative solutions to survive the company in the industry ,even at lose in the short run ,and profitable in the long run. It is normal to have ups and downs in the economic environment and therefore employee lay off can also exists .

I am hopeless refugee but optimistic for Sweden economic since according to IMF report world GDP will recover in 2010 and those employee lay off will hopefully return back to their pervious job .We have to pray day and night for that …..

God always be with you .
12:29 May 16, 2009 by glamshek
I respect you Malbin. At last we heard a CEO leadinf by example. He was just honest.

However, I would still say that we needed this CEO to be there for any alternative solution. By the way this is also a good solution to lay himself off. This would was a message.
19:37 May 16, 2009 by Yanksalot
i lay myself off alot, but not usually after I do it to 25 others. i would be too tired!
21:40 May 19, 2009 by mkvgtired
Obviously his actions are commendable. It is hard not to have respect for such a person. Although I do respect him, I think having a honorable CEO at the helm that would fight for the employees during future battles with the parent company would be better than no CEO at all. He may have lost this battle, but those employees lost a crucial ally in future disagreements with the majority stakeholder.
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