Last elves fired from Santa's Finland HQ
Published:
18 April 2004 y., Sunday
The last three worker elves at Father Christmas's official headquarters in Finland's Arctic have been fired as Santa Park grapples with its finances.
Lack of visitors has meant that the number of Santa's little helpers is now down to two, a far cry from plans to employ 120 staff on a monthly wage when the park opened.
About 800km north of Helsinki, this is where letters addressed just 'To Santa' arrive. The elves were supposed to help Santa and guide visitors around the park.
During these five years (Santa Park) has been able to employ a fraction of the 120 staff for a maximum of three months (a year), usually for about eight weeks," Rajala said, adding the sacked elves had been on temporary leave since last August.
Santa Park made its first operating profit last year, but the company's bottom line remained in the red as it still has annual costs of about Ђ400 000 (a$492,700) related to the initial construction of the park to pay for the next 15 years.
Šaltinis:
iol.co.za
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
For three days now these group of Venezuelan students have not eaten any food - they're staging a hunger strike against President Hugo Chavez.
more »
Contest challenges young people from Europe and beyond to find creative solutions to real-life problems.EU-sponsored contest challenges young people to think creatively.
more »
In time-honoured tradition it's time for Hamburg's swans to head to their winter quarters.
more »
On 24 November, Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Vygaudas Ušackas will attend the ceremony during which the Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to Lithuania Tong Mingtao will hand over the aid to the residential care centre “Vilties Namai” in Vilnius.
more »
If your airline goes bankrupt and leaves you stuck what are your legal rights? Wednesday at midday a crucial vote will be held by MEPs in Strasbourg that could clear the way for the setting up of a compensation fund for stranded passengers.
more »
EU support for volunteering should be stepped up to €10 million, as part of the 2011 European Year of Voluntary Activities Promoting Active Citizenship, said the Education and Culture Committee on Monday evening.
more »
Jacques Barrot and Luc Van den Brande to co-chair conference assessing the implementation of child rights by local and regional authorities.
more »
Europeans will soon have a new way of getting the commission to act on issues that concern them. But how will the new citizens’ initiative work in practice?
more »
In Ukraine local communities are directly affected by climate change impacts.
more »
Ageism is growing problem – or so most Europeans think.
more »