Esko cleanup

[khasmir]

Just so you know because they seem to be keeping it awfully quiet...
Last week Esko decided to sack 10% of staff worldwide because business is slow they say.

Well, IMHO sacking people with a full schedule is not going to help business at all...

Note that I'm saying Esko, not EskoArtwork since there is hardly anything left from the Arworks side, if you have trouble getting good service for the Artworks-Systems products then you know why.

 

[Kristian]

It wasn't kept that quiet. It was in PrintWeek.


EskoArtwork to cut nearly 10% of global workforce
Adam Hooker, printweek.com, 16 January 2009

Pre-media specialist EskoArtwork is set to make "approximately 10%" of its worldwide employees redundant, it has emerged.
The Belgium-based company has blamed the current economic climate for the restructure, which will see around 10% of its 900-strong workforce made redundant, along with a reduction in its operational spend.

EskoArtwork made the announcement despite profitable growth in 2008.

Chief executive Carsten Knudsen said: "2008 continued an unbroken record of growth in our bottom line over the past five years. However, we cannot ignore the current economic conditions, or the outlook for 2009.

"In the coming year we will concentrate our efforts on servicing our large current customer base and our strategic developments while acting in a more conservative manner in other areas."

He added: "By proactively addressing our cost structure, we can assure EskoArtwork customers and partners of a continued profitable performance, while simultaneously safeguarding our long-term strategic goals."

The implementation of the restructuring will be completed by the end of January and Knudsen said he expects the business to emerge in a stronger competitive position.

 

[Bobmorli]

Not a real surprise if you ask me. Alfter taken over AWS (with enfocus), Gradual, Mikkelsen, this was bound to happen. Now the economic situation is a great way to explain it, rather than to say they have to much people working for them...
And yes, service went down after the Esko - AWS merge. Way down. Saw alot of AWS people leave shortly after that. I don't know how it's now. I left my prepress job 2 months ago but am still folowing this forum/prepress world with much interest.

 

[madmac]

Well, IMHO sacking people with a full schedule is not going to help business at all...

Note that I'm saying Esko, not EskoArtwork since there is hardly anything left from the Arworks side, if you have trouble getting good service for the Artworks-Systems products then you know why.

The way I read your post sounds like you are on the inside and perhaps on the wrong end of the stick?

I think we are all aware times are tough, with a lot of printers going to the wall. As a user I haven't seen things get much worse in the UK since the merger of Artworks and Esko.

While it is true some good people seem to have left one way or another perhaps (pushed, jumped, or sacked).

On one hand it is easy to say they shouldn't get rind of anyone. But I ask you if you have invested in their hardware or software would you rather they cut staff and are still here in 2010 plus or have them go to the wall as well?

We saw this with Rover Group in the UK for to long they put their heads in the sand carrying on going further and further into debt until there was no way out. The result where are all those people now and where is Rover.