December salaries and wages have been paid; the second wave of layoffs is over; Negotiations with investors are taking place behind the scenes – the battle for KTM’s future is in full swing. “We can only wait and see at the moment,” says Daniel Lang, the mayor of Mattighofen, where the consequences of the crisis are already becoming clear. Apparently the first ex-KTM employees have left.
Motorcycle production in Mattighofen will be at a standstill until at least the beginning of March. That is why approximately 1,000 employees are currently at home; The employees of the leading company are subject to a 30-hour working week until further notice – these are just two of the measures that should help the motorcycle manufacturer find a way out of the crisis.
Negotiations on the share sale of MV Agusta are ongoing
The mountain of debt of around 1.8 billion euros also means that most of the Italo luxury brand MV Agusta, which was only acquired in March 2024, will be split off again; There were also job losses.
At the beginning of December, 250 employees were laid off and in the past two weeks, almost 300 more employees learned that they had to leave the company. Unlike the first wave, this time there was no company meeting organized by the Chamber of Labor and the AMS at which those dismissed were fully informed. The insolvency law department of the AK Upper Austria instead sent small teams to the Innviertel. This week, two employees were on site at KTM from Monday to Thursday to advise dismissed employees.
What is the mood like in Mattighofen at the moment? “You notice that people are a little more confident that things will continue, but it is completely uncertain in what way,” says Daniel Lang. The 36-year-old is mayor of the city where KTM has its headquarters and main production. He and his team are also up in the air. The city has already postponed individual projects. Are you waiting too?
Disparaging comments about lower salaries for community jobs have fallen silent
The city has filed vacancies in kindergartens and outdoor swimming pools with the AMS. The first registrations are already trickling in, says Lang. “Two years ago we had almost no registrations. When I looked at the salary, I said, “I’d rather work at KTM and get double.” You no longer hear such statements and comments. Job security is becoming more important again.”
The crisis at KTM and its consequences are becoming increasingly noticeable for the city. Between November and December the number of main homes fell by 37. “That is a very big negative. Since I became mayor, this has never happened in this form,” says Lang. Over the course of the year, the number of main residences continued to increase, but the increase was significantly lower than that in 2023. “I believe these are former KTM employees who moved because they were looking for something else,” said the politician.
The city itself acts as a creditor in the insolvency proceedings: it concerns outstanding contributions for water and sewerage and the like.
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.
