European companies cut jobs as economy sputters

Decades-high inflation and the impact of war in Ukraine have forced companies across Europe into lay-offs or hiring freezes.

Here are some of the companies that have announced cuts since January:

Autos

• Autoliv: the Swedish airbag and seatbelt maker said on June 8 it plans to cut around 8,000 jobs, which equates to about 11 percent of direct and indirect positions at the company.
•  Stellantis: the carmaker agreed with unions in February to cut up to 2,000 workers from its Italian operations through voluntary redundancies.
•  Volvo: the Swedish group said in March it would restructure its European bus-making operation, leading to a reduction of 1,600 jobs.
• Volvo Car: the automaker on May 4 announced 1,300 additional layoffs in Sweden, 6 percent of the company’s workforce in its home country.

Food, retail and consumer goods

• Deliveroo: the British meal delivery company said on Feb. 9 it would cut around 9 percent of its workforce, or 350 roles.
• Fielmann:  the German glasses retailer said on March 3 it would slash hundreds of jobs by 2025.
• Sainsbury’s: the British supermarket group plans to consolidate five existing Sainsbury’s and Argos general merchandise depots into three, closing two by 2026, in a move that will impact 1,400 workers, it said on Feb. 28.
• Zalando:  the German online fashion retailer said on Feb. 21 it would cut hundreds of jobs across the company.

Industrial and engineering

•  British Steel:  the Chinese-owned company said on Feb. 22 it could cut up to 260 jobs after announcing the planned closure of its coke ovens in northern England.
• Kone:  the Finnish elevator maker said on Jan. 26 it would reduce headcount by 1,000, including 150 in Finland.
• SSAB: the Swedish steel maker said on June 16 it has started furlough talks concerning 850 of its 4,700 employees in Finland due to weak demand in the construction sector.

Tech

• BT: Britain’s biggest broadband and mobile provider on May 18 said it would reduce its total workforce by up to 55,000 jobs by the end of the decade to become a much leaner business.
•  Ericsson: the telecom equipment maker will lay off 8,500 employees globally as part of its plan to cut costs, a memo seen by Reuters said.
• Logitech: the maker of keyboards, webcams and other computer accessories is laying off about 300 people in a global reorganization, Bloomberg News reported on March 22.
• Nokia: the Finnish telecom equipment maker said on May 3 it plans to cut up to 208 jobs in Finland.
•  Philips: the Dutch medical equipment maker on Jan. 30 said it would cut 6,000 jobs to counter falling sales and after a massive recall of its respiratory machines.
• SAP: the German software company said on Jan. 26 it planned to shed 3,000 jobs, 2.5 percent of its global workforce, to cut costs and focus on its cloud business.
• Telecom Italia: the group is seeking to cut as many as 2,000 jobs in Italy through a voluntary early retirement scheme, sources told Reuters in March.
• Vodafone: the British telecoms group on June 15 reached an agreement with unions over 1,003 job cuts in Italy to cut costs. It said in May it would cut 11,000 jobs globally over three years as it forecast a 1.5 billion euro drop in 2023 free cash flow.

Others

• BASF: the German chemicals maker said on Feb. 24 it would cut 2,600 jobs to improve competitiveness as it warned of a further decline in earnings due to rising costs.
• Deutsche Bank: Germany’s largest bank said on April 27 it would cut 800 jobs in an effort to reduce costs by an additional 500 million euros over the next few years.
• Evonik:  the German specialty chemicals producer said on April 3 it would cut 200 jobs as part of restructuring of its pet food unit.
• Grifols: the Spanish pharmaceutical firm said on Feb. 15 it would lay off around 2,300 employees, or 8.5 percent of its global workforce, amid a strategy overhaul aimed at reaching annual savings of around 400 million euros.
• Standard Chartered: the British bank has started laying off employees in its London, Singapore and Hong Kong offices and the total reduction could be more than 100 positions, Bloomberg News reported on June 7.
• Stora Enso: the Finnish forestry firm said on June 15 it will cut 1,150 jobs after it decided to shut down some pulp production plants in Finland, Poland, Estonia and Netherlands.
•  Taylor Wimpey:  the British housebuilder said on Jan. 13 it was considering job cuts to keep a lid on costs, but did not specify the number of potential job cuts.

Source: Regulatory filings, Reuters stories and company websites

($1 = 10.4142 Swedish crowns; $1 = 0.9222 euros)

READ:

Euro zone unemployment falls to 6.5% in March

Euro zone factory downturn deepens in May despite price cuts

Darkest days likely over for euro zone factories, Dec PMIs show