Electrolux to Cut More Than 5,000 Jobs; close plant in New Jersey

Associated Press ^

[RCW2001]

By MATT MOORE
AP Business Writer

STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP)--Appliance maker AB Electrolux said Tuesday it will cut more than 5,000 jobs in the next two years and close an air conditioner plant in New Jersey as it seeks to lower costs and improve productivity.

The Stockholm-based company, which makes refrigerators, vacuum cleaners and lawn mowers, said it would also consolidate its operations in China and India.

``We must make every effort to improve operations that are underperforming or not creating sufficient value,'' said Electrolux president and chief executive Hans Straaberg. ``This is fundamental for enabling increased activities in product development and marketing to achieve growth, and for strengthening our leading positions within our highly competitive industries.''

The company plans to eliminate 5,091 jobs through the restructuring and close its air conditioner manufacturing facility in Edison, N.J. It also plans job cuts in India and China and will sell a component plant in Australia.

Before the announced cuts, Electrolux employed more than 87,000 workers worldwide. The company is the world's largest produce of household appliances, including washing machines, refrigerators and vacuum cleaners. Some of its brand names include Frigidaire, Electrolux, Husqvarna and Weed Eater and Eureka.

In October, the company posted a 36 percent drop in third-quarter net profit and predicted market demand in Europe and North America would be flat or slightly lower for the rest of the year. Third-quarter net profit was $133 million, compared with $273 million in 2001.

Sales in the three-month period ending Sept. 30 fell 3.2 percent to $3.4 billion from nearly $3.7 billion in 2001.

The company said it expected demand in Europe and North America to be ``flat or slightly down'' for the rest of the year, Straaberg said.

___

On the Net:

http://www.electrolux.com

AP-NY-12-17-02 0835EST

[wideawake]

He beat you to it - although I can't find anything to do with the IDF anywhere in the article.

[toupsie]

That sucks!

[BenLurkin]

It's all the Republicans' fault!

/sarcasm

[KevinDavis]

Time to close the borders..

/sarcasm

[warchild9]

This means more New Jersey illegals coming down into my country looking for jobs which have also long since been moved to China and Mexico. The promises of free trade continue to spread...

[Don Corleone]

Undoubtedly it is that "Giant Sucking Sound" that ol' "What's his name" warned us about.

[Republic of Texas]

This sucks.

[Republic of Texas]

Nine freakin minutes!

[general_re]

It also plans job cuts in India and China...

Well, I think we can eliminate the hypothesis that these jobs are being shipped overseas...

[Darnright]

http://www.oreck.com/

[dyed_in_the_wool]

Wasn't NJ trying to reserve the right to sue companies that left the state?
Nothing like compounding lawsuits on top of high taxes to keep your state's economy rolling.

[chance33_98]

Electrolux Faces 194 Asbestos Lawsuits

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - AB Electrolux, the world's leading white goods maker, has been notified of 194 asbestos class action lawsuits involving 14,300 people, Chief Executive Hans Straberg said on Tuesday.

Straberg declined to say whether the lawsuits included claims from at least 13,000 people in more than 25 class action lawsuits in the state of Mississippi, confirmed earlier by a U.S. lawyer.

Shares in Electrolux, which has annual sales in excess of $15 billion and a market capitalization of some $5.7 billion, slumped some nine percent on the news, and hit a month-low of 133 crowns.

The stock was also pressured by an earlier announcement that Electrolux would cut 5,000 jobs and book a 1.37-billion crown ($155.5 million) restructuring charge in the fourth quarter.

The claims against Electrolux are targeted at White Consolidated Industries (WCI), the maker of Frigidaire appliances, and at parent company AB Electrolux.

Electrolux acquired WCI in 1985.

"Is the situation serious, yes. The company is facing a serious number of lawsuits," Gretchen Gentry, a lawyer with the U.S. law firm Daniels & Gentry in Jackson, Mississippi, told Reuters by telephone on Tuesday.

She said 13,000-15,000 people have joined the asbestos class action lawsuits against Electrolux in the state of Mississippi in the past six months. Other U.S. lawyers have also recently talked about a similar number of such cases involving Electrolux.

Asbestos personal injury claims in the United States have cost more than $54 billion in settlements so far and driven more than 60 U.S. companies into bankruptcy.

Alwyn Luckey, whose Jackson-based law firm represents some 3,000 people in five separate class action lawsuits against Electrolux, told Reuters he believed Electrolux should have been notified of the pending asbestos lawsuits.

[verity]

Perhaps they should have introduced a new line of vacuums named 'the Monica'.;~)

[chance33_98]

Is the problem immigration in our country, or lawyers with hungry clients (both probably....)?

[Snowy]

That sucks!

I have three Electrolux vacuums. One is over 25 years old. It's the only one still working. The other two neither suck nor blow.

[cynicom]

All of this daily taste of bad news is having a profound and deadly effect upon the American working men and women. It is forcing the wages lower to the detriment of the working class. It does not bode well for this country.

[theFIRMbss]

"The Electrolux Group is the world's largest producer of powered appliances for kitchen, cleaning and outdoor use. More than 55 million Electrolux Group products (such as refrigerators, cookers, washing machines, vacuum cleaners, chain saws and lawn mowers) are sold each year to a value of approx. 14 billion USD in more than 150 countries around the world."

--------------------------------------------------

The company does
14 billion dollars worth
of business but still

has to close a plant
in New Jersey. Imagine
how small companies

must be hurting in
the current economy.
Thing have to improve...

[Physicist]

I guess Sweden decided to stop "exporting jobs overseas" (to the U.S., anyway). The protectionists should be celebrating this one, right?

[Larry Lucido]

Well, you know, nature abhors a vacuum.