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 Retail Trade, Except Of Motor Vehicles And Motorcycles Retail Trade, Except Of Motor Vehicles And Motorcycles 47 - Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles
300 jobs Number of planned job losses
Announcement Date
22 September 2006
Employment effect (start)
1 October 2006
Foreseen end date
Description
Only a few days after the acquisition of Cosmos, which runs a chain of 27 electrical stores throughout the country, by the Austrian Value Management Services group and the German Nordwind Capital company, the new owners announced their plans to reduce considerably the firms workforce. The Cosmos works council confirmed these plans by stating that the new management has already sent written notification of the planned dismissal of 300 out of currently 1,400 employees to the Labour Market Service. Accordingly, job reduction will be effective already in October 2006. The employee representatives also stated that the management plans to set financial incentives for the employees concerned in order to prevent possible proceedings. The works council has urged the management to enter negotiations on a social plan to avoid cases of hardship.
Sources
22 September 2006: Wirtschaftsblatt
22 September 2006: Der Standard
Citation
Eurofound (2006), Cosmos, Merger/Acquisition in Austria, factsheet number 64154, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/64154.
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.
