The largest German electronics chain Media-Markt-Saturn is facing a far-reaching group restructuring.
Numerous branches are closed, 1,000 jobs are on the brink.
Ingolstadt / Düsseldorf - The electronics chain Media-Markt-Saturn is planning a drastic downsizing in view of the shift in demand towards online trading.
The electronics retailer plans to cut a total of 1,000 jobs by autumn 2022.
13 of the 419 stores are expected to be closed, the company's management in Germany reported in a letter to employees.
The letter has been submitted to the German Press Agency.
The food newspaper had previously reported on it.
The corona pandemic has permanently changed shopping behavior, the management justified the planned cuts in the branch network.
More and more customers would order their goods online.
The share of e-commerce in total sales more than doubled in the current financial year.
This forces the company to adjust the number and size of the stationary stores to the new circumstances.
Most recently, the company had also legally defended itself against the forced closings due to the lockdown.
Media-Markt-Saturn: Corona has changed the demand behavior - 1000 jobs before the end
"Against this background, from the management's point of view, it is unavoidable to close 13 of the currently 419 stores in Germany," the letter said.
After careful analysis, the affected branches could not be operated economically in the long term.
The closings, but also a new organizational structure in the stores, would "probably lose up to 1,000 jobs" by the end of September 2022.
But new jobs would be created elsewhere.
The job cuts in Germany are part of a group-wide austerity program that the electronics retailer announced last August.
According to earlier information, up to 3,500 jobs could be lost across Europe.
Only at the end of the year did the group close its traditional store on Theresienhöhe in Munich.
(dpa / utz)