The current global economic downturn is taking its toll on Monaco's industrial sector.

During February, another set of workers received the bad news that redundancies are inevitable. Beauty and skin care products manufacturer Lancaster has laid off 2 people and submitted a request to the government for aid. The rescue package makes compensation available to employees of companies that close temporarily or reduce staff working hours. According to official sources, 180,000 euros have already been distributed through the scheme. Companies that supply the automotive industry are particularly hard hit, with Mecaplast, PG Plastic, Silvatrim and BorgWarner also applying for government aid.

Unfortunately, workers who lose their jobs at enterprises that continue to operate normally are reliant on redundancy packages that may only pay what's legally required. BorgWarner announced it would be letting 20 people go in February. Other companies such as Microtechnique and Plascopar have already lost 36 and 13 employees respectively. Indeed, with 170 jobs lost in total last year, the industrial workforce has been reduced by something like 5%. The forecast is not optimistic.