Oerlikon cuts 1,000 jobs
Swiss technology group Oerlikon has announced a first-half loss for 2008 of SFr313 million ($285 million) and said it will axe 1,000 jobs across Europe.
The company’s turnover dropped by 6.5 per cent to SFr2.5 billion compared with the same period in 2007.
Incoming orders also dropped by 6.7 per cent to SFr2.8 billion, Oerlikon said on Tuesday.
The group is currently restructuring Oerlikon Textiles, which will enable it to reduce its fixed costs by 20 per cent compared with last year.
The number of international production sites is also expected to be halved, but the details of which staff will be affected have yet to be announced.
As reasons for the downturn, Oerlikon cited increased prices of energy and raw materials. It added however that its Oerlikon Solar business was performing very well.
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