Women’s footwear manufacturer, Peter Kaiser, cuts 40 jobs in the Pirmasens site (leaving 200 in total, with half of it working in the factory). The reason? The retail sales decrease brings a reduction of production, which will, in part, be transferred in Portugal. Local production in the oldest German footwear factory will be halved, from 1,400 pairs to 700-800 pairs per day, while production in Portugal, currently at 2,200 pairs per day, will increase. Peter Kaiser closed its 2018 balance sheet with 50 million in revenue.
Rieker’s problems
Costs that are too high and no presence of specialized workers. These are the causes that are pushing Rieker to shut down its Logoi plant in Romania, which currently employees 647 people. After over 20 years of activity, the brand will abandon the country. According to Rieker’s ceo, Markus Rapp, operational costs have increased 35% in the last three months. In order to retrieve specialized workers, employees arrive to the factory from over 70 kilometers, and that makes costs too high. Romania’s production capacity will be absorbed by the existing plants located in Tunisia, Morocco, and Vietnam. The company employs about 20,000 people worldwide.
And those of German Schoen+Sandt
The decline in footwear production in Germany has forced the manufacturer of machinery for the footwear segment, Schoen+Sandt, to cut 20 jobs. The company has gone from its record year (2017), with a revenue of over 20 million euro, to the worst year in its history: 2018.
