More jobs go: Lonza cuts 500

Swiss speciality chemical company Lonza is to cut 500 jobs over the next two years to save costs, including 400 cut in a bid to ‘secure the future’ of the site at Visp in Switzerland.

The company says that the site has been insufficiently profitable in recent years because of competition from ‘low-cost manufacturers’, a strong Swiss franc and high prices for oil and energy. It would realise ‘the majority’ of cuts through internal transfers, natural attrition, early retirement and discontinuation of temporary contracts.

The Visp site is the largest, employing 2890 people, and one of the most significant for both production and R&D.

The company announced the cuts alongside financial results for the third quarter (Q3) of 2012. It described overall business performance as ‘on a satisfactory level despite difficult macroeconomic challenges’.