Two companies known in Switzerland have warned or confirmed changes affecting hundreds of jobs, turning their attention to business restructuring, lowering costs, and adjusting to new market demands.
The telecommunications company Sunrise has confirmed cutting 358 jobs, while the food distribution platform Just Eat plans to remove several hundred of the about 700 couriers currently working for it in Switzerland, as part of changing its employment model.
Cases vary, but show companies are reviewing the way they organise jobs, use resources and aim to remain competitive in a changing market, writes WatsonTelevision broadcast.
Sunrise, the second largest telecommunications operator in Switzerland, had first reviewed the cut of up to 450 jobs. After consultations with employees’ representatives and the Syndicom union, the number declined to 358.
The company reasons the decision with a multi-year reshuffle of its operating model, with the aim of boosting efficiency and competitiveness. It is also examining contracts with suppliers and other external costs. By the beginning of this year, Sunrise had also completed cutting 147 jobs, meaning that the number of countries cut during the year totals more than 500.
Meanwhile, Juster Eat is making another difference. Instead of couriers with regular labour contracts, the company intends to rely more on self-employed persons and foreign distribution partners, writes The Loclas.
According to the company, change is related to new consumer customs, which order food and products at different times during the day and night. The current model, with preplanned shifts, cannot enable the company to offer the same flexibility, argues its leader in Switzerland, Lucas Streich.
However, the change could have direct consequences for hundreds of employees. The exact number of countries to be cut is expected to become known after the completion of the consultancy process. Workers may apply to continue co-operation as self-employed, but this status usually does not offer the same guarantees as regular employment, including paid holidays and compensation of income during the disease.
Why are these changes taking place?
In the case of Sunrise, the main stated reason is the restructuring of business to increase efficiency, control costs and adapt organisation to market and technology developments. Just Eat, the emphasis is on flexibility and changing consumer demand, but the new model moves some of the responsibilities and risks from company to couriers.
This indicates that job cuts do not always occur because a company is closing down or leaving a market. They may be the result of decisions to change the internal structure, reduce fixed costs, use more external partners, or organize the work more flexiblely.
For employees, however, the gap between restructuring and closing a company does not necessarily ease the impact — losing the workplace or moving into a less secure form of employment.
Sunrise and Justus Eat are not enough to prove that the whole Swiss market is experiencing the same situation. However, they point to an important challenge for workers: companies are looking for new ways to be competitive, while workers face greater uncertainty about the stability of their jobs.
We remember that other companies in Switzerland have faced serious difficulties, including Liosalap, which will be closed after more than 50 years leaving 32 people without jobs, Wagner AG, which is breaking up the event after more than 80 years, and the platform of the online sale of Farm food, which banned activity following the failure of financial rescue efforts./Telegraphy/
