Thousands of Swiss Watchmakers' Jobs at Risk
July 20, 25
(IDEX Online) - Thousands of Swiss watchmakers are facing an uncertain future from 1 August, when the state-funded furlough program comes to an end.
Employers will have to find a way to pay their salary, or let them go.
The furlough scheme, widely used during the Covid pandemic, was never intended to meet such long-term needs as the ongoing decline in demand for luxury watches.
The industry has been relying heavily on support from the government, which has until now covered 80 per cent of furloughed workers' salaries.
But a decline in global demand since the second half of 2023 shows little sign of recovery.
Smaller and mid-market brands are feeling the squeeze more than large, high-end brands such as Rolex, Patek Philippe, and may be forced to lay off staff.
Watchmakers avoid permanent job losses wherever possible, because of the difficulties in recruiting skilled workers when demand picks up.
Many watchmaking companies have put workers on short-time working even if they have been able to avoid temporary retrenchments.
Swiss watch exports were down 2.8 per cent by value in 2024, according to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry, with sales in China down by almost 26 per cent.
Last September we reported that Girard-Perregaux and Ulysse Nardin, (sold off by the Kering Group), had put 15 per cent of their workforce on short-time working and that 40 companies - mostly tool, machinery or component suppliers - applied for permission to cut their workers' hours in Jura, one of Switzerland's 26 cantons.