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

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

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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.