Cloetta Fazer Sverige AB begins employee co-determination talks for dismissal of the company’s service consultants

Cloetta Fazer Sverige AB has initiated employee co-determination negotiations regarding the termination of all of the company’s service consultants, the staff responsible for merchandising and displaying the company’s products in Swedish grocery stores. The dismissal will affect 32 employees throughout Sweden and is planned for the second half of 2005.

A need for downsizing of staff has emerged over the past year, as the Swedish grocery retail industry and its suppliers face a new competitive situation that is forcing them to change their behaviour. ”Cloetta Fazer’s goal is to preserve our status as a prioritised brand supplier to the Swedish grocery retail trade. To achieve this we must be able to adjust our organisation, its structure and competencies to new forms of collaboration with our customers so that we can continue optimising consumer benefit,” says CEO Karsten Slotte. For Cloetta Fazer Sverige AB, the reduced sales organisation is not expected to generate any annual savings and is only an adaptation to new trends in the trade. The company’s ambition is to assist as many of the affected individuals as possible in finding a new job or training. Cloetta Fazer Sverige AB has also contacted the Västra Götaland County Labour Board and the Council for Redundancy Support and Advice (Trygghetsrådet). Cloetta Fazer Sverige AB is Cloetta Fazer AB’s Swedish subsidiary. At present, the company has around 170 employees.