Richemont offers to reduce number of jobs it wants to cut at Swiss watchmaker

RICHEMONT signalled it was willing to reduce a job-cut plan by about 20 percent, according to worker representatives who said they wanted more concessions from the Swiss luxury-goods maker as they protested near the headquarters of Piaget and Vacheron Constantin.

Richemont offered to reduce the number of jobs it planned to eliminate at the Swiss watchmakers to about 170 from 210, Alessandro Pelizzari, a representative of the Unia labour union said in an interview yesterday, the original deadline for an agreement.

The company declined to comment on the figure and said it would extend discussions for several days to improve the conditions in the plan. Peanuts “They put peanuts on the table, and we think they can do better,” Pelizzari said.

The union was insisting that Richemont resort to reduced working hours instead of outright job cuts, he added.

After Switzerland produced more than 500 million timepieces to feed booming demand over the past two decades, watchmakers were now in retreat.

Swiss watch exports had the biggest monthly drop in seven years in October, with plunging demand in almost every major market.

In response, Richemont’s chairman, Johann Rupert has overhauled senior management, abolishing the chief executive position and naming new executives to lead watch-