Møbelfabrikken Ekornes lays off employees – news Møre og Romsdal – Local news, TV and radio

The furniture manufacturer Ekornes announced on Friday afternoon that they will have to lay off up to 10 percent of the 760 man-years who work with production and assembly at the factories. The newspaper Nyss writes that. It is Ekornes’ Stressless facilities in Norway that will be affected by the layoffs. The chief union representative at Ekornes, Edvard Lie, hopes that the market will improve so that people are not made redundant. Photo: Josef Benoni Ness Tveit / news Hopes to avoid redundancies The employees were informed of the situation earlier this week, so the notice of layoffs does not come as a surprise. – For those concerned, it is dramatic. We don’t know who it will be yet, but when we don’t have any orders to fill the days we have to lay off, says club manager Edvard Lie. It is only one year since around 170 man-years disappeared. 279 people lose their jobs. Lie hopes that the company avoids redundancies this time and that the situation has improved in a few months. The furloughs are valid for three months. – The hope is that we will manage to sell enough furniture for everyone to have work, says Lie. CEO Tine Hammernes Leopold says that they had to take action because order development has been weak. Photo: Press image It will be a demanding year CEO Tine Hammernes Leopold says that the redundancies reflect a weak market in the entire furniture industry and it is necessary that we take some measures to ensure long-term competitiveness. – We have had weak order development for Stressless at the end of 2023, and the expectations for 2024 are that it will also be demanding. Then we have to adapt production to ensure competitiveness when the upswing comes. And we think it will do that again, says Leopold. She boasts of the good cooperation with the employees. – Now we have been through ups and downs in Ekornes in the past, and it has always been possible, precisely because we have very good cooperation with our employees, says the CEO. She believes that the market will normalize again. Ekornes is the largest furniture manufacturer in Norway and owner of the brand names Ekornes, Stressless, Svane and IMG.



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