HELSINKI: Mechanical engineering firm Wärtsilä is planning to adjust its operations due to the weak economic situation and reduce its staff by 550. About 270 of those jobs will be cut from Finland. Wärtsilä is seeking annual savings of approximately 50 million euros, which should be in effect by the end of next year. The layoffs hit particularly hard the Wärtsilä Marine Solutions and Energy Solutions businesses.
The company also wants to shorten its planning cycle and to focus on motor product development in Finland. According to the company, the equipment supply market has deteriorated. Competition for new ships on the market is tight due to the overcapacity of merchant ships and the lack of demand from the offshore sector.
According to the company, there is a risk that the owners of vessels would want to negotiate the deferral of existing supply contracts. “These unfortunate changes in capacity must be made in order to retain our competitive position in the international market,” said the company’s CEO Jaakko Eskola in a statement. At the end of last year, Wärtsilä employed about 18,000 people worldwide.
