High-end electronics producer Bang & Olufsen (B&O) has announced it will be outsourcing production of TVs to Czech Republic.
It is the latest outsourcing move for the Struer-based company, which has sent production of telephones, stereos, speakers and radios to the factory it opened in the town of Kop?ivnice in 2006.
The move is expected to affect around 75 employees in Struer. B&O hopes to find new positions within the company for 25 of the employees. The remaining 50 will likely be let go sometime in 2015, according to company representative Karsten Grønholdt Hansen.
“We had hoped that the new types of TV sets would at least start up here in Struer, but it looks like that will also happen in Czech Republic now,” Hansen told radio station DR P4.
The recession has hit B&O hard, and the company is expected to close 125 stores in Europe over the next few years.
B&O, which laid off 64 employees in January, has gradually been outsourcing its production and laying off employees in Denmark. Today, 1,100 people are employed in Denmark, 350 of whom are involved in manufacturing.
B&O was established back in 1925 by Peter Bang and Svend Olufsen.
In related news, hearing aid producers Widex will be shifting much of its production to Estonia and heavily reducing staff in Denmark over the next few years.
Anders Westermann, the deputy director of Widex, said that within four years most of the company's production will take place in Estonia.
“We feel that much is changing in the industry and we need to look at our expenses if we hope to compete and ensure viable business,” Westermann told Berlingske newspaper.
Westermann said some production would continue to remain in Denmark.
