According to a report, the employees of the warehouse group Galeria Kaufhof must prepare for job cuts, as these could now follow after the merger with Karstadt.<\/p>\n
According to the newspaper S\u00fcddeutsche Zeitung, the head of the joint venture, Stephan Fanderl, said at a management meeting: “In its current state, Galeria Kaufhof is not viable in the long term”. Together, the management decided on a comprehensive restructuring program for the company. The employees were now informed about the risks at a staff meeting.<\/p>\n
According to the report, 2,600 full-time positions at Kaufhof are affected – every fifth position. Since the part-time quota is relatively high in the company, about 4,000 to 5,000 jobs are in danger. However, branch closures due to refurbishment are not planned, but there could be closures if leases expire at locations. At the employees’ meeting, Fanderl also announced that “Kaufhof must withdraw from the collective bargaining agreement immediately”. Due to the economic difficulties, there was no alternative for the company.<\/p>\n
Since the end of November 2018, Kaufhof has been part of the joint venture of competitor Karstadt. The company is 49.99 percent owned by the Canadian retail group HBC and 50.01 percent by the Austrian Signa holding of the investor Ren\u00e9 Benko.<\/p>\n
The S\u00fcddeutsche Zeitung also reports that the headquarters of the new joint venture will be in Essen, where Karstadt’s previous corporate headquarters are located. All important management and administrative functions from Kaufhof will now be relocated there. At the former Kaufhof headquarters in Cologne, on the other hand, a competence center for digitization, online trading and a shop with reduced brand clothing will be created.<\/p>\n
According to the newspaper K\u00f6lner Stadtanzeiger, the future headquarters of the company will be divided between Essen and Cologne. The core areas of the company, such as purchasing, sales and marketing, will be concentrated in Essen, just like the management. Cologne, on the other hand, will assume the role of online trade, the company’s digitization strategy and the catering and food segment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
After merger with Karstadt: thousands of jobs in danger According to a report, the employees of the warehouse group Galeria Kaufhof must prepare for job cuts, as these could now follow after the merger with Karstadt. According to the newspaper S\u00fcddeutsche Zeitung, the head of the joint venture, Stephan Fanderl, said at a management meeting:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1057,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1056","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-supply-chain"},"yoast_head":"\n