Sapa Profiler AB implements four-day work week, saving 100 jobs

Under this agreement, Sapa Profiler AB will switch to a four-day work week from 30 April 2009 to 31 March 2010.

Sapa Profiler AB and union representatives have come to a unique agreement to prevent further redundancy notices at the company’s plants in Sweden. The agreement is based on the central arrangement between the Swedish Metalworkers’ Union (IF Metall) and employers, and a voluntary agreement among the executives.

Under this agreement, Sapa Profiler AB will switch to a four-day work week from 30 April 2009 to 31 March 2010.

“Since the summer of 2007, we’ve been forced to reduce staff drastically,” says Managing Director Carl von Schantz. “And we're still overstaffed in relation to work volume. We’ve consciously kept the redundancies to a minimum to avoid losing too much expertise and skill. This agreement will save us giving notice to about 100 people. By implementing a four-day work week, we can keep skills in the company. This will enable us to handle an increase in volume when the economy turns around.”

Sapa is an international industrial group, which develops, manufactures and markets value-added aluminium profiles, profile-based components and systems, and heat exchanger strips in aluminium. Sapa has an annual turnover of approximately SEK 33 billion with some 13,000 employees in companies all over Europe and in the United States and China. Sapa is a world leader in its field and has customers in the transport, telecom, engineering and construction industries. Sapa is a part of the Norwegian Orkla Group.