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.
Retail Wholesale Trade, Except Of Motor Vehicles And Motorcycles Wholesale Of Household Goods 46.49 - Wholesale Of Other Household Goods
160 jobs Number of planned job losses
Announcement Date
18 October 2023
Employment effect (start)
18 October 2023
Foreseen end date
31 December 2023
Description
Staples Nederland, an office wholesaler located in Almere, Flevoland, is filing for bankruptcy. As a result, all 160 employees will lose their jobs, reportedly by direct dismissal.
The reason behind the bankruptcy is that the office supplies market was hit hard by the COVID-19 crisis when people started increasingly working from home. At that time, Staples received €1.8 million in wage subsidies from the Dutch government. Digitalisation is also affecting the company. As a result, fewer pens, pencils, and notepads are ordered.
Staples Nederland was already having a hard time before the pandemic. In 2019, a loss of €5.4 million was incurred on a turnover of almost €78.4 million. A year later, turnover had fallen to €55 million.
Eurofound (2023), Staples Nederland, Bankruptcy in Netherlands, factsheet number 200439, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/200439.
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.
