PORTUGAL: Makro downsizes 10 stores and lays off 229 workers in Portugal | Progresiv

Makro Portugal, a Portuguese subsidiary of Germany’s Metro Group, has announced it will dismiss 229 of the 1179 workers it currently employs. In a statement, the wholesale retailer justified the decision with a change of strategy and the downsizing of ten stores it has in Portugal. The "general economic situation" and the retail sector led the company to review its strategy, which will give priority to the Horeca channel. Makro wants to offer a more personalized service "which requires an adjustment and resizing of the shopping space, with the main change in the non-food sector".

According to Tanya Kopps, who took over in January as general director of Makro Portugal, “this adaptation of the business in Portugal is inevitable in order to measure up to the present scenario of demand and be competitive in the market”. She added that the Metro Group will continue to invest in the Portuguese market by ensuring the future sustainability of the company.

The Union of Workers of Trade and Services of Portugal recalls that this is the third collective redundancy in the company within six years, adding that it does not understand the measure because it "comes at a time of rising sales".

For its part Makro says it will offer compensation "substantially more favorable than those determined by law, in addition to the outplacement program" that helps workers to find employment. (www.esmmagazine.com)