LafargeHolcim to shed 200 jobs in Paris and Zurich

Company announces next steps in the simplification of the corporate organization

CONSISTENT with their Strategy 2022, LafargeHolcim have announced proposals to further simplify their corporate organization that will involve the loss of some 200 management jobs and the closure of the corporate offices in Paris and Zurich.

Remaining positions in Switzerland will be moved to the company’s Holderbank site and a new corporate office in Zug. In Paris, remaining positions will be moved to Clamart in the south-west of the city.

The company aims to complete the simplification plan by the end of 2018, which chief executive officer Jan Jenisch described as a ‘painful but necessary step in creating a leaner, faster and more competitive LafargeHolcim’.

According to the plan, 107 jobs in the Zurich area and Holderbank will be impacted, along with 97 in Paris. No other sites in France will be affected by the plan.

The proposals presented to works councils today are a key component of LafargeHolcim’s Strategy 2022 launched in March 2018, which will allow the company to grow and vigorously capture market opportunities by moving closer to customers in key countries.

LafargeHolcim say the simplified corporate organization outlined in the plan will help facilitate this shift and also help sustain competitiveness and investment in innovation.

The plan is subject to required consultation and regulatory processes in each country, and the company says it will endeavour to minimize the impact on employees and will offer support at affected sites.

According to LafargeHolcim, the proposals are in line with other measures that have already been implemented, including the closure of regional headquarters in Singapore and Miami, the elimination of one layer of management and the near doubling of countries reporting directly to the slimmed-down group executive committee.