Electrolux has said it will close a cooking product factory in Quebec, Canada, and cut 800 European jobs as one of the final acts of its eight-year effort to shift manufacturing to countries with lower production costs.
Electrolux will close the factory in l’Assomption, Quebec, in 2013, affecting 1,300 workers, the company said. In Europe, jobs will be cut at its major appliances industrial operations in 2011 and 2012. Electrolux, which didn’t say where in Europe the workforce will be reduced, said it will charge a total of 850 million kronor ($124 million) against fourth-quarter earnings.
“Production in L’Assomption will be transferred to a new facility, the location of which will be announced shortly,” the maker of Frigidaire refrigerators said in the statement.
Electrolux, which competes with Whirlpool in 2004 began an effort to shift much of its production to lower-cost countries. The program is expected to be completed next year and will cost a total of about 8.5 billion kronor, the Stockholm, Sweden-based company said. It should generate annual savings of 3.4 billion kronor starting in 2013, it said.
Chief Executive Officer Hans Straaberg, who initiated the restructuring program, will step down at the end of the year. He will be succeeded by Keith McLoughlin, now responsible for research and development, manufacturing and purchasing at the company.