Wollsdorf Leather is one of the world’s well known suppliers of high quality leather used in cars, furniture and aircraft. Founded in 1936 in Austria is cutting 150 jobs out of its roughly 370 person workforce.
Most of the cuts will hit leather production where 130 workers will be let go. Another 20 staff members from the administrative side will also lose their jobs.
The company says the move comes as part of its production is being shifted to lower cost locations overseas.
Wollsdorf Leather is headquartered in the Austrian state of Styria and runs factories in Croatia, China and Mexico along with sales offices in the USA China Hong Kong and Uruguay.
All 150 affected workers will be registered for termination with AMS Styria (Public Employment Service). This was confirmed by Karl Heinz Snobe the AMS regional managing director.
The job loss will involve the unit that produces leather for car seats which will now move to Mexico where operating costs are far lower. Many of the people losing their jobs are daily commuters from Slovenia or Hungary who travel to the Weiz district for work.
In the end the shift abroad may strengthen the company’s global footprint yet for Styria it marks another painful loss in a region already hit hard by industrial cuts.
