After four years of losses in the triple-digit million range, the crystal company Swarovski, with head offices in Wattens in Tyrol and Männedorf in Switzerland, will make a profit for the first time in 2024. Nevertheless, ongoing business operations are plagued by numerous problems.
“We will be fully profitable, including restructuring costs,” a spokeswoman confirmed to Trend magazine. The crystal company had a turnover of 1.83 billion euros in 2023 and although it achieved a positive operating result, the result was negative due to the high conversion costs. There are several problems.
Will 3,000 to 2,200 jobs be cut?
Sales in China, which accounts for 20 percent of Swarovski’s sales, will be 16 percent lower in 2024 than the previous year. The industrial business (B2B) with parts for the fashion or automotive industry, for example, is also having a hard time. This is especially relevant for the head office in Wattens, where the B2B threads come together.
Although the number of employees in Wattens was recently set at 3,000, according to the “trend” there are considerations to reach a corridor of 2,200 to 2,500 in the medium term.
The company answers evasively
Swarovski does not comment on this figure, but responds evasively to a ‘trend’ question: ‘We have a long-term relationship with Wattens, and that means that we have assessed the financial viability of the location given the market development and significant cost increases in Austria, unlike other parts of the world. Naturally, this must be accompanied by continued fluctuations in the number of employees.”
According to “trend”, there are also considerations to optimize the space through digitalization and automation of production and to open the business premises in Wattens to external companies – a plan that the company does not deny.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
