Swarovski to cut 600 jobs

Austrian jeweller Swarovski announced on Monday that it will be cutting 600 jobs around the world, including 200 in the Tyrol region where it is based, citing decreased demand in Asia and the U.S. due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

"The international luxury market has been hit hard by the crisis," the crystal maker said in a release, explaining that it saw a "massive decline in sales" in the first quarter of 2020. 

A third of the job cuts will affect the company's historic site in Wattens, Tyrol, not far from Innsbruck, where Swarovski is intending to "consolidate and rationalise" its marketing and sales activities. The partial unemployment measures introduced by the group since the start of the pandemic will be extended until September. 

"This transformation is essential for ensuring the continuity of Swarovski," said Robert Buchbauer, the group's CEO and chairman of the board. The company's history can be traced back to the end of the 19th century.

In 2019, Swarovski reported revenues of 2.7 billion euros. The company employs some 34,500 people and manufactures crystals in Austria, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Serbia and the United States. Its products are sold in approximately 170 countries. 

Swarovski was founded in 1895 by Daniel Swarovski, the inventor of an industrial crystal cutting machine.