Marimekko Corporation starts statutory employer-employee negotiations on potential permanent staff reductions concerning the personnel of its manufacturing operations located in Sulkava and Kitee, Finland as well as the adjacent factory outlets.
The negotiations relate to the possible closure of Marimekko’s production plants in Sulkava and Kitee. The personnel of Marimekko’s textile printing factory in Helsinki will not be affected by these negotiations. The closure of the production plants and factory outlets could result in a permanent reduction of 60 employees at the most.
Mika Ihamuotila, President and CEO: “The aim of these planned actions is to secure the future competitiveness of our business. We are proud of our Finnish roots and it is important for us that our products are designed and to some extent also made in Finland. We plan to concentrate our in-house manufacturing in the production plant located in the Herttoniemi district of Helsinki.
In recent years, we have devoted particular effort to developing the operations of our textile printing factory as it supports our product development and our pioneering work in pattern design, thus giving us a significant competitive edge. I am firmly convinced that the planned actions will make it possible to manufacture more competitive products, thus creating better opportunities to employ personnel in Finland in the areas of product development, design, marketing and sales.
Marimekko’s personnel engaged in these functions in Finland has strongly increased in recent years. In spite of uncertainty in the global economy, we intend to continue our long-term efforts aimed at international growth in line with our strategy, and in order to achieve our goals we must devote particular attention to the profitability and cost-efficiency of our operations.”
During the negotiations, it will also be determined whether the possible reductions to be effected can be compensated for by transfers within the Group or by using pension or other special arrangements. At the end of 2012, Marimekko had a total of 535 employees, 432 of whom worked in Finland. At the end of the year there were 60 employees working at the production plants in Sulkava and Kitee and the adjacent factory outlets.
Marimekko is a Finnish textile and clothing Design Company renowned for its original prints and colours. The company designs and manufactures high-quality interior decoration items ranging from furnishing fabrics to tableware as well as clothing, bags and other accessories.
