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H&M former chairman Stefan Persson considers this measure “too aggressive” and that solutions can be sought that do not involve job loss. In Spain H&M explained it will affect 588 workers and the closure of 28 store.
H&M has announced the opening of a collective dismissal procedure in Spain for organizational and economic reasons that will lead to the closure of 28 stores and affect 588 workers, according to Persson in a statement.
H&M has launched a restructuring of its network in Spain that will result in the closure of 28 stores and the departure of 588 workers, according to union sources announced today. The company’s intention is to start the negotiation process in September. With the new Royal Decree that was approved last year, in the event that workplace closures occur, the company, which has not made any comments, must notify the labor authority at least 6 months in advance. until the negotiation table is established, sending a copy to the most representative unions at the state and regional level.
In a statement, Stefan explains that “after the mobilization processes last year and the agreement reached, we believe that this measure is too aggressive and that solutions can be sought that do not imply the loss of employment,” taking into account that there are “a workforce already decimated since the collective dismissal process that occurred in 2021.” That year, specifically, the company, which went into the red as a result of the pandemic, finally implemented the departure of 349 workers, compared to the almost 1,100 affected that it had initially proposed.
Last June, the 4,000 H&M workers in Spain carried out strikes and rallies a few days before the start of the sales to demand salary improvements that the Swedish multinational claims had been carried out and rejected. “During these months we have raised with the company the importance of replacing those people who are on sick leave or on leave, which in practice means that there is very little staff in the stores, creating an overload of work, which has an impact on the staff that are active, that they can no longer support, especially in the face of the increase in work that will come with the arrival of the sales,” the unions stated then.
The company then ended up approving incentives for store sales, a guaranteed minimum value for responsibility functions, salary increases for salespeople, information rights, as well as the effective increase of staff in stores.
The Swedish multinational, which closed more than 300 stores worldwide in 2023, obtained a profit of 612 million euros in the first nine months of its fiscal year, which ran between December 2022 and August 2023, accumulating an increase of 61% compared to the same period last year.
Increase in profits
This strong increase in the profits of Inditex’s main competitor worldwide is partly explained by the negative effect last year of the closure of its business in Russia, valued at 150 million euros. Thus, so far this fiscal year, the group’s sales have stood at 14,844 million euros, a figure similar to that recorded a year ago.
H&M’s business has experienced a strong boost during the third quarter of the year, between June and August, a period in which it has sixfolded its profits compared to 2022, with 284 million net euros, a figure that has caused the company’s shares to multinational companies rose 4.6% this morning on the Swedish stock market.
According to the latest accounts deposited in the Commercial Registry, the Spanish subsidiary closed the 2022 financial year with revenues of 419 million euros, slightly below the 424 million of the previous year. In 2021, the company entered losses for the first time in two decades with a negative result of 7.6 million, but the following year it obtained profits of 7.8 million.
