Clariant to cut 800 more jobs
Chemicals manufacturer Clariant has announced a third round of cost-cutting measures that will slash 800 jobs, 40 of them in Switzerland.
Mark Hengel, a company spokesman, said about 450 of the 800 jobs would come from European offices. Germany would be particularly hit, with 180 layoffs. Most of the Swiss jobs would go at the company’s headquarters in Muttenz, near Basel.
The chemical company struck a total of 2,000 jobs from its payroll in February and June. About 160 of them were in Switzerland.
The economic downturn has weighed heavily on Clariant. Figures for the first half of 2009 showed the company had lost SFr152 million ($148 million) on sales that had slumped by a quarter.
The company had posted a SFr92 million net income gain for the first half of 2008.
By the end of the year Clariant will have fewer than 18,000 workers worldwide. About 1,400 of those employees live in Switzerland.
swissinfo.ch and agencies
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.