Business news : Quiksilver plans to remove 38 positions in the " Pays Basque" and " Landes" ( France South West )

Quiksilver Europe head office St jean de Luz

The American sports brand, which employs a thousand people in France, is preparing a plan to save face a "difficult economic period."

The American Quiksilver, specialist sports, said in a statement Wednesday that it was considering the elimination of 38 positions in France in Saint-Jean-de-Luz (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) and Hossegor (Landes) to " adjust the size of the company's workforce to the market reality. "

"After years of beautiful growth (...) the Quiksilver group now prepares his transfer to emerge stronger from a difficult economic period," writes the direction of Quiksilver in a statement. According to the text, the ongoing reorganization "at the global level should lead to both a savings plan" and "greater efficiency in the areas of product creation and marketing in particular."

This savings plan includes "a backup plan for employment", finalized after the approval of the works council, and "made in consultation with the representative bodies and in accordance with French regulatory framework," says Quiksilver . Which ends at the end of the summer of 2013, the statement said, that 38 jobs will be cut in France at the sites of Hossegor and Saint-Jean-de-Luz.

In the Landes, the "technical" division, which are designed and developed accessories (suits, helmets, snowboard goggles) of Quiksilver's brands (Quiksilver, Roxy, DC), employs 52 people. Premises will be closed and the division will be built at the site of Saint-Jean-de-Luz, home to the European headquarters of Quiksilver, where 565 people are already working.

"In the case of redundancies, accompanying measures will be offered to affected employees," says the text of the direction that "the implementation of this savings plan requires to adapt the size of the workforce company to the market reality in 2013 and as it draws the next five years.

"From a manager and optimization for" transfer site Landes in Saint-Jean-de-Luz "makes sense: there was no point in keeping two remote sites" a few tens of km, told an AFP correspondent said a former executive of Quiksilver, who requested anonymity. Specializing in sports, Quiksilver employs 2652 people in Europe, including 1,100 in France and 738 in Aquitaine.

By AFP

Website : Quiksilver Europe.