Skanska will lay off 3,400 employees

Stockholm - The Swedish construction group Skanska will lay off a total of 3,400 employees in Northern Europe. In Sweden, the number of jobs will be reduced by 2,000, while the remaining layoffs will affect Norway (800 people) and Finland (600 people). Skanska announced this today in a press release. In the Czech Republic, Skanska CS, which is a part of the Swedish group, has no plans for layoffs.
    "There will not be enough construction projects for our employees," commented the group's spokesperson Peter Gimbe on the decision. He also stated that further layoffs cannot be ruled out. Currently, Skanska employs 11,000 people in Sweden, 20,500 in the entire Northern European region, and 60,000 globally.
    According to Gimbe, the construction of new apartments has slowed down so much that Skanska will reduce its turnover in the Nordic countries by 15 percent next year. This also requires adjusting the number of needed workforce. However, in the current situation, it is still impossible to precisely determine which Swedish regions will be most affected by the layoffs, Gimbe added.
    The reduction in the workforce will gradually occur throughout next year, but will be initiated "quite soon". The costs of laying off 3,400 employees in the Nordic region are estimated at 600 million Swedish kronor (more than 1.5 billion CZK).
    Skanska CS, the leader in the construction market in the Czech Republic, has no plans for layoffs due to the crisis. "The market in the Czech Republic is not declining so radically, so we have no reason for similarly drastic measures. We prefer to pursue a gradual increase in productivity to be well-prepared for the upcoming crisis," said Danek Ťok, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Skanska CS to ČTK. "If there are significant changes in the market, we will of course respond to them," he added.