Lay-offs in Spain as sales fall in face of regulations and illicit trade

Altadis is to axe about eight per cent of its workforce in Spain, according to stories in El Pais and Agence France Presse.

The 114 job cuts form part of the company’s plan to ‘increase efficiency and competitiveness’ in the face of ‘the complex situation the tobacco market in Spain is going through’.

Seventy six of the 114 people set to lose their jobs work at the Cadiz factory, which is to be closed.

Most of the workers to be laid off are to be offered early retirement and those at the Cadiz factory who are not eligible for early retirement will be found work at other factories.

The company, which is owned by the Imperial Tobacco group, said that its sales had fallen by 40 per cent during the past four years due largely to regulatory pressures and the rise of the illicit trade, which now accounts for about 12 per cent of the market.