A Third of Pirelli’s 1500 Tyre Job Cuts Already Actioned

Approximately 500 of the 1500 job losses Pirelli Tyre chief executive Dr Francesco Gori announced last week have already taken place in various parts of Europe. According to a Pirelli Tyre spokesperson, this means the remaining 1000 will be spread across the company’s Western European operations. Pirelli has not released any further details of which particular sites or positions are to be affected.

Presenting the company’s financial results to an investor’s day last week, Dr Gori was clear that Pirelli (like the market as a whole) is facing a challenging environment this year. “How do we see the 2009 market? Difficult,” he said at one point. As a result Pirelli Tyre is reshaping its industrial footprint to the tune of “the equivalent” of one production plant. This means each of the remaining factories will focus on high value items – namely SUV tyres in the UK and UHP, Winter, run-flats in Germany.