In a press statement issued on Monday, March 18, 2019, the management of Liberia’s largest Firestone rubber plantation some 45 miles outside Monrovia disclosed that it will lay off 800 of its employees.
Firestone, a subsidiary of Bridgestone Americas, Inc, is Liberia’s biggest private sector contractor, says its losses are “continued and unsustainable”.
News of Firestone’s laying off of hundreds of workers comes at a time Liberia is experiencing a serious economic slum, with a very high unemployment rate.
According to one statistics from indexmundi, “Unemployment, total (% of total labor force) (modeled ILO estimate) in Liberia was 4.00 as of 2017. Its highest value over the past 26 years was 5.60 in 2007, while its lowest value was 3.60 in 2014.”
The government and some international groups have repeatedly said that the rising unemployment rate, especially high youth unemployment is a national security threat.
BELOW IS THE FULL TEXT OF FIRESTONE’S BRIEF PRESS STATEMENT:
