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.
Arts / Entertainment Sport, Amusement And Recreation Sports Activities And Amusement And Recreation Activities 93 - Sports activities and amusement and recreation activities
New offshoring locations
150 jobs Number of planned job losses
Announcement Date
3 December 2004
Employment effect (start)
Foreseen end date
Description
German sports equipment maker Voelkl AG, a unit of U.S. sector group K2, plans to cut 150 jobs at its plant in Straubing in case labour costs were not reduced by 20%, Voelkl said on 3 December 2004. According to Heinz Hausner with German trade union for the metal, engineering, coal and steel industries, IG Metall, Voelkl might already have decided on outsourcing ski production to China. IG Metall also said Voelkl might shift some 450 jobs to China, adding that the company might use the Straubing site only for marketing and development purposes in the future. The company, however, denied any outsourcing plans. Voelkl has already moved its snowboards production to China. The negotiations on the further reduction of labour costs, however, hit a standstill. According to IG metall and the works council, employees have so far agreed to a 5% reduction. Voelkl currently has a 10% market share globally. Voelkl is currently facing tough competition from Austria, where labour costs are 27% lower, the company said. In June 2005, Voelkl confirmed that it will transfer parts of its production to China. This comes in the wake of failed talks with the trade unions about cost-cutting. A Voelkl spokesman said that the management wants to guarantee 370 jobs at the factory in Straubing, which means 150 fewer jobs than its current 520.
Sources
2 June 2005: Mittelbayerische Zeitung
3 December 2004: Handelsblatt
Citation
Eurofound (2004), Voelkl AG, Offshoring/Delocalisation in Germany, factsheet number 60894, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/60894.
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.
