Electrolux vacuums 3,000 jobs

16 December 2008

Swedish home appliances maker Electrolux yesterday said that it will not be able to meet its forecast for 2008 and will cut costs, including more than 3,000 jobs globally as demand for consumer electronics goods decline.

Demand for appliances in Europe and North America declined considerably in the two last weeks of November and the weak market has had a negative impact on Electrolux sales volumes and product mix during the fourth quarter.

The company said that it is no longer possible to achieve the outlook of an operating income in 2008 due to these negative developments for the fourth quarter.

Electrolux says that throughout 2008 it has introduced a number of cost-saving measures, including reduction of the number of employees due to the negative development on the main markets and will intensify it cost-saving activities.

The Stockholm based company which employs 57,000 staff worldwide had launched a series of measures to reduce the number of employees by more than 3,000 in the fourth quarter of 2008 and said that it will continue in 2009.

The company will take one time severance cost of approximately SEK 1.2 billion, and will be charged against operating income before items affecting comparability in the fourth quarter of 2008.