Georg Fischer to slash 2,300 jobs
Industrial concern Georg Fischer will cut 2,300 jobs over the next year after suffering heavy losses in the first quarter of 2009.
The cuts amount to 16 per cent of the workforce. A quarter of job losses will affect positions in Switzerland, the Schaffhausen-based company announced on Thursday.
The move comes after Georg Fischer reported a SFr46 million ($42.1 million) lost in operating revenue for the first months of 2009. Sales had slid 38 per cent against figures for the same period last year.
The job cuts will save SFr350 million a year "in the wake of an unprecedented market slump", the company said in a statement. About 990 jobs have already been slashed from the company payroll, leaving another 850 positions on the chopping block.
The job cuts should increase the company's earning's margins while lowering its net debt. In February, Georg Fischer reported that full-year net profit had dropped in 2008 from SFr245 million to SFr69 million.
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