Two hundred and fifty employees of the Znojmo plant Laufen CZ will be out of a job in 2024. The company representing the bathroom equipment brands Laufen, Jika and Roca will concentrate the production of sanitary ceramics in Bechyn and will gradually reduce production in Znojmo.
The premises of the company Laufen in Průmyslova street in Znojmo.
| Photo: Deník/Ilona Pergrová
The company will offer people who lose their jobs in Znojmo the opportunity to transfer to Bechyn, severance pay and help in finding a new job. The decision is related to changes in the industry and rising energy prices, which in the Czech Republic are among the highest in the region.
Bathroom equipment manufacturer Laufen CZ will gradually cancel most of its production capacities in Znojmo. “On the contrary, the logistics center here, which is the largest for the brand in the region, will see an expansion of its operation. In the same way, the company will continue to produce furniture and faucets here,” company representatives informed in a press release.
Rising production costs
The main one the reason for the measure are long-term growth in production costs and changes in the bathroom industry. The company reacts to the negative development of the economy.
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Among other things, high energy prices have an impact on the current situation. “Based on the long-term growth of inflation, interest rates, energy prices and labor costs, we are forced to optimize our production capacities. We do not see any clear signs of demand recovery. In the course of 2024, about two hundred and fifty employees will be laid off,” informed Laufen CZ CEO Luis Sergio Castro.
As he added, Laufen CZ’s decision is inevitable, especially due to developments in the areas of exemptions from energy taxes, energy costs and other expenses associated with obstacles to work on the part of the employer.
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Last year already Laufen was firing. The Journal reported on the situation. Several dozen people lost their jobs in a year. The company felt a drop in sales in connection with the economic crisis in 2009, when about eighty people were laid off. It subsequently increased the number of employees due to the construction of a logistics center in 2014 and the commissioning of a new production line two years later. The company was hiring dozens of people and its sales were growing.
About Laufen CZ:
The company has been operating in the Czech Republic since 1999. On the local market, it represents the brands Laufen, Jika and Roca. He coordinates and is responsible for the development and production of bathroom equipment in the factories in Bechyn and Znojmo. In 2014, the brand opened a Laufen space Prague showroom.
