Brno - Textile and clothing companies in the Czech Republic last week announced hundreds of redundancies and production cuts, saying the financial crisis is hurting demand for their products abroad.

The textile industry and suppliers of car parts are now the country's two sectors hardest hit by the global downswing.

What's worse, the chances that the fired staff will soon find new jobs are gradually shrinking: The most recent figures show the unemployment rate slightly decreased in October, but so did the total number of jobs.

Crisis cools demand abroad

Brno-based Nová Mosilana, one of the largest Czech textile mills, has announced 80 redundancies by the end of the year. The management and the union have also agreed to suspend production for three days and give all staff five days off between Christmas and New Year.

"The main reason is fewer orders from buyers abroad, who are being affected by the global financial crisis," said Nová Mosilana union leader Libor Břenek.

Hybler Textil will lay off about 100 employees in Semily and Jablonec nad Jizerou, both in north Bohemia. Tessitura Monti Cekia, which as recently as this spring was still hunting for new workers, has now announced about 80 redundancies.

Strong crown hurts exports

OP Prostějov, the largest clothing manufacturer, will cut 150 jobs at the end of this month, the local employment office told regional newspaper Deník. The company said the strong crown has made some orders unprofitable and even domestic sales have been slow. OP Prostějov said earlier it was expecting its 2008 revenue to drop by CZK 500 million to about CZK 2 billion.

Finally, Slezan has said it will close down plants in Uherské Hradiště, Hanušovice and Mladé Buky, a move that will leave 350 people without work.

The Czech textile industry has abolished tens of thousands of jobs over the past three years and now employs 52,000 people. The Association of Textile Industry says that, under the worst-case scenario, this figure could shrink by more than 10,000 by 2010.