The restructuring events database contains factsheets with data on large-scale restructuring events reported in the principal national media and company websites in each EU Member State. This database was created in 2002.
Manufacturing Manufacture Of Basic Metal And Fabricated Metal Products Manufacture Of Fabricated Metal Products, Except Machinery And Equipment 25 - Manufacture of fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment
New offshoring locations
100 jobs Number of planned job losses
Announcement Date
11 January 2008
Employment effect (start)
1 February 2008
Foreseen end date
31 December 2009
Description
VingCard Elsafe, a Norwegian producer of locks for the international hotel and cruise market based in Moss and part of the Swedish group Assa Abloy, announced on 11 January 2008 that is to cut approximately 60 full-time jobs in 2008 and other 40 jobs in 2009. These redundancies result from the Board decision to move some of the production operations to China and downsize the factory in Moss.
The decision was not unexpected as the management already in September informed that downsizing had to come. All the same, The Board decision caused anger among the union representatives. The union leader at VingCard says to the press that “We understand that reorganisations are necessary to survive, but this kind of downsizing is not acceptable”. Even if it will be easy for most of the workers to get new jobs because of a favourable labour market, he is concerned about the competence that will vanish. The managing director says to the press that “a lot of money will be used on severance pay and on finding alternative jobs”. Also re-qualification and training is on the agenda.
VingCard has today 330 employees, whereof 212 in the manufacturing. The company had a turnaround of 750 million NOK last year and a surplus of 21 million before taxes in 2006.
Assa Abloy has 12 subsidiaries around the world. The downsizing is part of the goup’s offshoring policy all over Europe. The group will downsize with around 2000 employees in this region, and move production to China.
Sources
12 January 2008: Moss avis
11 January 2008: NRK Østfold
Citation
Eurofound (2008), VingCard Elsafe, Offshoring/Delocalisation in Norway, factsheet number 66208, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/66208.
Digitisation and automation technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), can affect working conditions in a variety of ways and their use in the workplace raises a host of new ethical concerns.
The retail banking sector is fertile ground for studying the impacts of digitalisation on work and employment. Financial services are increasingly provided online, without the intermediary of customer-facing institutions.
European labour markets have recovered strongly from COVID-19. By the end of 2021, little more than 18 months after the start of the pandemic, employment rates in the EU were almost at pre-crisis levels.
