Restructuring events
European Restructuring Monitor (ERM)
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.
Antolin Hungary, a subsidiary of Spanish automotive interior manufacturer Grupo Antolin, announced to its employees a layoff of at least 100 employees in its Helvécia plant. The firm cites a decrease of orders and a need of restructuring as the reason of the downsizing. The workforce cut will affect a wide range of employees, from middle-level managers to production line workers, to warehouse keepers. Employees approaching retirement are among the redundancies as well.
Antolin Hungary is one of the largest suppliers of the nearby Mercedes-plant in Kecskemét. It produces carpets and vehicle door panels for Mercedes in Hungary and for other customers abroad.
The reason of the decrease of orders from Mercedes in unclear, since Mercedes is in the process of expanding its capacities in Kecskemét.
The workforce reduction comes less than three years after the firm launched its Helvécia plant, an investment that was given financial support from both the EU and the Hungarian state. Now, according to news reports, the whole production lines will be relocated to Spain.
Shortly before the announcement of the downsizing, the firm was among the first companies that introduced a new overtime system in January 2019, making use of the so-called ’slave law’. This law makes it possible for employers to require overtime amounting to 400 hours per year per employee, without trade union consent. This implies that the firm responds to decreasing demand by cutting workforce and simultaneously maximising the workload of the remaining staff.
Eurofound (2019), Antolin Hungary, Offshoring/Delocalisation in Hungary, factsheet number 97360, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/97360.