Employees at STMicroelectronics are praying the government will persuade the mother company to keep on as many workers as possible.

ST last week announced losses of $366 million and committed itself to cut 4,500 jobs worldwide this year. The Sunday Times reported that the company planned to lay off some 1,200 workers in the next few years from Malta, just over 60 per cent of its current workforce at the Kirkop plant.

Speaking to The Times yesterday, the main feeling among employees was that they were being kept in the dark and consequently living in uncertainty.

A senior officer in his mid-50s said he wanted to be informed so that he would know whether to start looking for a new job straight away.

"I don't want to be part of the stampede. If 1,000 of us are laid off together I'm going to be competing with all of them to find a new job. If I know where I stand from now I can start making other arrangements," he said, with the hindsight of having been part of mass redundancies twice before in his lifetime. He recalled being unemployed for two months before managing to get a job at ST.

For him and other older employees, their biggest concern is their age.

A 43-year-old man said a new employer would seek younger workers: "With this kind of job, you are given training, so adapting to a new factory would not be difficult. But why would they want to train someone my age when they can invest in someone younger?"

However, he was quickly corrected by a 22-year-old colleague:

"My girlfriend is 20. She has been registering for work for two years. She sends CVs out every day. There just isn't work for any of us," he said, in a worried tone.

Some were more cool-headed than others.

"I think it's still too early to say. We'll wait and see. We've had these kinds of scares before. Then again, this time it seems to be different because it's happening all over the world. It seems to be more real," a worker said.

On Sunday, Finance Minister Tonio Fenech told ST workers not to lose faith because if they did so their productivity would drop and the Maltese government would lose its bargaining position.

There were mixed reactions to his comments. Some workers lashed out at Mr Fenech, saying they could not focus on their job with the looming uncertainty.

"I'm earning €350 less a month, and I have to pay for water, electricity, petrol, car repairs, my home loan, my wife and my two children. At the moment I can only see my family in the dark, because we can't even afford a candle from Tal-Lira," he claimed.

Many said productivity was going down but they agreed with Mr Fenech that this would be a bad thing if maintained.

With those in the higher positions things seemed a little different, with one senior officer saying they were doing their best to show their potential. But he too said he was "on edge", and worrying about how he would continue to feed his three children and pay off his loans.

Meanwhile, a minibus driver, who shuttles workers to the factory, said the media was stirring too much alarm - after all, he said, Morocco could be the factory to downsize, not Malta.

On the other hand, two women in their 30s said if it were not for the newspapers they would not have known of the pending lay-offs. When asked whether they were seeking alternative employment, they said there was nowhere to go.

"All the factories are reducing production or laying off workers. Where should we look?"

When contacted, General Workers' Union section secretary responsible for ST Andrew Mizzi said the union had never been officially informed of any lay-offs.

"The Times seems to be more informed than we are," he said, adding that the next meeting with the management is scheduled for tomorrow.

"However, we are not expecting any answers because most probably the Malta management is not informed of the plans.

"We will have to wait for the meeting of ST's European works' council where all the information would have to be divulged. In the last meeting with management, two weeks ago, the company told us there were no imminent lay-offs. What we discussed was the transfer of a production line to a three-shift basis," he said.

cperegin@timesofmalta.com