SKF to cut 2,500 jobs due to weak demand in Europe
14 Jan 2013
SKF, the world's biggest maker of ball bearings, today said that it will cut 2,500 jobs and reduce costs by SEK 3 billion ($464 million) by the end of 2015 due to weak demand in Europe.
The Gothenburg, Sweden-based company, whose clients include General Electric, Rolls-Royce and Pratt and Whitney, will eliminate around five per cent of its global workforce of about 46,000.
The company did not reveal from which areas the job reduction would come from, but said that some 550 people will be affected primarily in Ukraine, Italy, Sweden and the US.
The headcount reductions would be mainly through early retirement as well as voluntary redundancies, it said in a statement.
The latest round of job cuts come after the company axed around 400 employess in June last year in Germany.
During the 2008 global financial crisis, SKF had cut production and reduced its headcount by 2,500 worldwide or 6 per cent of its global workforce, to adapt to lower demand from the auto sector. (See: SKF cutting 2,500 jobs worldwide)