The global Covid-19 pandemic continues to cause uncertainty in Valmet’s operating environment. This has impacted especially the workload in the services business, which is done close to customers.
During the year, Valmet has strived to balance the workload of the services employees by moving employees to other parts of the company, reducing new recruitments, and by utilizing vacations. Also, temporary lay-offs have already been realized earlier this year.
Due to financial and production-related reasons, especially because of the decreasing workload, the company starts co-determination negotiations for temporary lay-offs in Finland on November 24, 2020. The employees under negotiations are Services business line’s employees in Finland and the employees of the EMEA area organization in Finland. The lay-offs are going to be temporary, and they are estimated to last up to 90 days at maximum.
At this point, it is estimated that the need for temporary lay-offs concerns around 360 employees. The targeting of the lay-offs and the number of impacted employees will be finalized during the co-determination negotiations.
Valmet employs about 5,200 people in Finland, of which about 1,680 employees in services business line and EMEA area organization.
Valmet is a global developer and supplier of process technologies, automation, and services for the pulp, paper, and energy industries. Its strong technology offering includes pulp mills, tissue, board, and paper production lines, as well as power plants for bioenergy production. Its advanced services and automation solutions improve the reliability and performance of our customers’ processes and enhance the effective utilization of raw materials and energy.
Valmet’s net sales in 2019 were approximately EUR 3.5 billion (approximately Rs 30,848 crore). Its head office is in Espoo, Finland, and its shares are listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki.
