Bang & Olufsen with layoffs

At a presentation of the new corporate strategy in Copenhagen, the CEO Karl Kristian Hvidt Nielsen also presented a cost saving programme aimed at returning Bang & Olufsen to profitability after a couple of quarters in the red. The retrenchment programme will cut projected costs by 160 million DKK, partly by cutting some 300 jobs. This in turn will lead to laying-off 165 employees. The rest of the reductions (135 more staff positions) will go through attrition and leaving open positions unfilled. “No one enjoys laying people off. On the other hand, I have to do what is necessary and best for Bang & Olufsen. It is with deep regret that we have to let so many employees go, but there is no alternative,” stated Karl Kristian Hvidt Nielsen, who added that Bang & Olufsen will do its utmost to help employees affected by the lay-offs.