Velan cuts 110 jobs, transfers production

Industrial valve manufacturer Velan is cutting its North American workforce by 110 due to a global downturn in the oil and gas industry.

Some of the job cuts will be temporary, but others will be total eliminations, mostly through retirement.

Approximately half of the employees being released are in unionised jobs and the other half are management and staff.

Velan will also be moving production from its facility in Montreal, Canada, to a plant next to its headquarters to cut operational costs.

The process to transfer production activities from the Montreal plant – the oldest Velan plant in operation – will be phased in over a period of nine to 12 months.

It is anticipated that the overall estimated cost of the production transfer and the workforce reduction will amount to approximately $2.5 million (appr. €2.2 million).

The cuts will reduce Velan’s global manpower by about 5%.

‘The layoffs were necessary as the result of an economic downturn that is impacting some of our important markets, especially the energy markets where the falling price of oil and the state of the global economy are creating uncertainty and affecting our bookings,’ says Yves Leduc, president of Velan.

Founded in Montreal in 1950, Velan is one of the major global manufacturers of industrial valves, with sales of $456 million last year.