Security firm Sicpa cuts jobs in western Switzerland

The Sicpa campus in Prilly, near Lausanne, in western Switzerland. Keystone-SDA

Sicpa, a company specialising in security inks, announced on Thursday that it plans to cut up to 120 jobs in canton Vaud, citing a complicated international economic context and geopolitical tensions.

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Sicpa’s management is “planning a series of financial and operational measures to be implemented before the end of the year. They will concern the entire group and its entities”, a Sicpa communications manager told the AWP news agency, confirming an earlier report by Swiss public radio, RTS.

“In terms of employment, this restructuring could result in the elimination of up to 120 positions in Switzerland,” he added.

“This is the start of a process, in accordance with the Swiss Code of Obligations”, he told AWP, adding that a consultation with employees had been opened “to enable proposals and suggestions to be made which could limit the extent of the measures envisaged as far as possible”.

He declined to comment on the possibility of cuts abroad. Sicpa, which is present in over 40 countries, has 3,000 employees worldwide, including 1,000 in Switzerland, based at its headquarters in Prilly and its industrial site in Chavornay, both in canton Vaud

Group reorganisation

The company is facing difficulties due to an international economic context which “has deteriorated” and geopolitical tensions “which have worsened considerably in many parts of the world in recent years, and even more so in recent months”, it explained in a press release.

Sicpa specialises in banknote inks and the marking of taxed products. The multinational says it is feeling the impact because its customers are mainly states and governments.

“Some of our projects have been delayed, and our results are directly affected by the rise in raw material prices, inflation, unfavorable exchange rates, and the effects of international sanctions to which we are subject,” it explained.

Faced with this situation, management has decided to implement a reorganisation designed to enable the group to manage its current and future projects “with greater agility”.

Sicpa says it wants to ramp up the digital and data science fields to conquer new market segments. “This effort must continue, and requires a reorganisation and evolution of current teams, building on our existing know-how and developing new ones”, it added.

Translated from French with DeepL/sb

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