Stellantis withdrawing Fiat workers FROM SERBIA! Italians were paid €70 per day, here's what happens now

Photo: Tanjug/AP

After several months of working in Kragujevac, central Serbia, Stellantis workers from Italy who were sent there to help launch production of the Fiat Grande Panda model are starting to return.

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Their role in Serbia, which they accepted in order to avoid reduced working hours and keep full salary at home, is slowly coming to an end.

According to Milano Finanza, some of the workers are already being transferred to Mirafiori in Turin, Stellantis' historic industrial center. Starting in early January, especially those from the plant in Cassino, will be leaving Serbia and moving to Piedmont, where they will work on the production of the Fiat 500 hybrid model.

Temporary work in Serbia

During 2025, around 200 Italian workers from factories in Melfi, Pomigliano, Atessa and Cassino accepted temporary employment in Kragujevac. The goal was to speed up the start of production of the Fiat Grande Panda, a model that proved to be more profitable when assembled in Eastern Europe, due to lower costs.

Thanks to overtime work, some earned more than 2,000 euros per month, but along with "long separation from their families and a hard life away from home."

Mirafiori attracting workers again

The reason for returning to Italy is a more stable and long-term perspective in Mirafiori. Stellantis plans to produce about 100,000 hybrid Fiat 500s annually by 2026, with planned pre-series phase by the end of 2025 amounting to about 6,000 vehicles.

This attracts not only workers returning from Serbia, but also those from other Italian factories, who see the hybrid Fiat 500 as a more stable and long-term opportunity.

Production in Kragujevac continues to grow

The start of the return of Italian workers does not signal a decrease in activity in Kragujevac. The factory works at full capacity in three shifts, and the plan is to increase the volume of work with the start of assembly of the Citroen e-C3 model in 2026, the annual production of which is estimated at around 40,000 cars.

Because of the lack of local applicants who would be paid an average salary of around 600 euros per month, Stellantis is still hiring workers from Morocco, Algeria, as well as Nepal and other Asian countries.

Although this model makes it possible to maintain the planned production level, it also increasingly opening up "social issues."

(Telegraf Biznis/Blic)