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 Sale Of Other Goods In Specialised Stores 47.71 - Retail sale of clothing in specialised stores
100 - 200 jobs Number of planned job losses
Announcement Date
21 September 2017
Employment effect (start)
21 September 2017
Foreseen end date
Description
Clothing brand Moods of Norway declared bankruptcy on 20 September 2017, resulting in the dismissal of all 200 employees. The company has struggled financially for some time, following a largely failed international expansion. Moods of Norway will close its headquarters in Stryn and Oslo, and has already closed its 18 stores around the country.
International employees are so far (formally) not affected, as the brand is organised in separate companies. Trustee Asbjørn Løvik has confirmed that other companies have shown some interest in the estate, but it is yet to be determined whether the stores will reopen and if some employees can be retained under new ownership.
Updated, 08/10/2017: Moods of Norway's estate, as well as subsidiaries in Sweden and the US, and clothing store chain Brandstad, has been bought by a group of investors comprised of key individuals and board members in Moods of Norway, including Jan Egil Flo and Simen Staalnacke. The future of the company remains uncertain. A closing sale will be held this fall while investors seek to secure additional capital. All employees at the company's headquarters and storage facilities in Styn, who have not yet found new jobs, will be offered their old positions back at least temporarily. Cuts will likely be made at the design, sales and marketing divisions located in Oslo and several stores are likely to be closed permanently, even if the company stays in business.
Sources
20 September 2017: E24
20 September 2017: Stavanger Aftenblad
4 October 2017: E24
4 October 2017: Dagens Næringsliv
Citation
Eurofound (2017), Moods of Norway, Bankruptcy in Norway, factsheet number 92035, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/92035.
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.
