Zenith: around 100 jobs at risk in Le Locle and another 100 abroad

Context

TL;DR

• About 100 jobs at risk in Le Locle
• Another 100 jobs could be cut abroad
• Zenith is consulting staff about possible collective redundancies
• The strategy focuses on high-end watchmaking

Key facts

• Brand → Zenith
• Swiss office → Le Locle (NE)
• Property → LVMH, French luxury group
• Employment in Le Locle → approximately 200 employees
• Places at risk in Le Locle → around 100
• Places at risk abroad → another 100 in the distribution network
• Strategy → greater concentration on high-end watchmaking
• Factors cited → strong franc, US customs duties and international geopolitical tensions

Around 100 of Zenith's approximately 200 jobs in Le Locle, canton Neuchâtel, would be at risk. The estimate concerns the Swiss headquarters of the brand and comes from internal sources cited by the AWP agency. For the distribution network abroad, the same sources indicate another 100 positions potentially affected.

The data is part of the personnel consultation procedure launched by the company, which could result in a collective dismissal. The news, published by the newspaper Le Temps, was confirmed by a company spokesperson. The confirmation concerns the start of the consultation; the figures attributed to internal sources instead indicate positions at risk, while collective dismissal remains a hypothesis.

Zenith is a watch brand from Le Locle (NE) and belongs to the French luxury giant LVMH, Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton. The geographical distribution of the estimate is therefore double: one part concerns the Le Locle headquarters, the other the foreign network. The source does not indicate which countries or which structures abroad would be involved, therefore the reference remains to the distribution network as a whole.

The reorganization indicated

According to internal sources, the direction indicated for the company is to adapt production volumes to actual demand and focus the brand more on high-end watches. The same reconstruction reports that, in the period following the post-pandemic recovery, the good results of some collections would not have prevented Zenith from accumulating losses from year to year. This report explains why the procedure is described as a reorganization, but does not allow us to quantify either the losses or the timetable of possible cuts. The text also links the operation to a downsizing of industrial and commercial activities, considered excessive compared to current needs. These are elements attributed to internal sources, not a detailed plan with already definitive measures.

Operational details

The comparison of the available figures helps put the announcement in context without confusing the Swiss site with the overall scope of the possible action. At Le Locle, the reference is approximately 100 jobs at risk out of a base of approximately 200 employees. The 100/200 ratio corresponds to approximately 50% of the site's workforce. This is a calculation based on the approximate figures reported by the source, not an official percentage communicated by Zenith.

Abroad, by contrast, another 100 jobs are indicated in the distribution network, but the source does not provide the total number of employees in that network. Therefore, it is not possible to calculate a comparable share for abroad. The overall estimate of about 200 jobs at risk should be read as an indicative sum of about 100 jobs in Le Locle and another 100 outside Switzerland. It cannot be used as Zenith's total number of employees, because the figure of about 200 employees refers only to the Le Locle site.

Volumes, prices and positioning

A second comparison concerns the industrial strategy. For Zenith, the source speaks of a stronger focus on high-end watchmaking and the need to align production with actual demand. For other Swiss watchmakers, the text describes a direction already taken: higher prices accompanied by lower volumes. The two elements should not be conflated: the source does not say that Zenith has already raised prices, nor does it quantify the decline in its volumes. Instead, it says that some collections performed well, while the brand, after the recovery following the pandemic, had reportedly accumulated losses year after year. The comparison therefore distinguishes the strategic choice indicated for Zenith from the industry example cited for other players. It does not, however, provide a common measure for determining how much each component contributed to the jobs indicated.

Key points

The pressures listed in the source are both market-related and structural. The difficulties include the strong franc, U.S. customs duties and international geopolitical tensions. According to the same account, these factors are compounded by an excessive scale of industrial and commercial activities relative to current needs. The source presents these elements as reasons for the reorganization, but does not attribute a specific share of the losses or jobs at risk to each of them.

The passage on the Swiss sector broadens the picture without turning it into a forecast for Zenith. Bloomberg, cited in the source, observes that raising prices in the presence of lower volumes would benefit exclusively brands such as Rolex, Patek Philippe and Cartier; operators in the mid-range segment and suppliers, by contrast, would be hit hard.

“This strategy only helps brands such as Rolex, Patek Philippe and Cartier”

The text does not establish that Zenith belongs to one of the categories identified by Bloomberg. Instead, it reports a distinction between the brands that would benefit from higher prices with lower volumes and the mid-range operators or suppliers described as being under pressure. This limitation prevents the comparison from being turned into an automatic classification of the Le Locle brand.

The limits of the news

The employment data are also limited. Approximately 100 jobs at risk in Le Locle and another 100 abroad are indicated, but there is no breakdown by function, department or country. No timetable for the consultation or outcome of the procedure is indicated. The source does not quantify annual losses and does not describe a final form of the reorganization. The most clearly defined piece of information at the company level is therefore the launch of the consultation; the distribution of the possible cuts and their actual implementation remain expressed in potential terms. For the Swiss labor market, the documented point remains the Le Locle site: the text does not provide a broader total for the Swiss watchmaking sector as a whole and does not allow the estimate to be extended to companies other than Zenith.

Source: rsi.ch