Job losses as Kudelski restructures
09.42 Europe/London, November 1, 2011 By Julian Clover
The Kudelski Group is to undergo a major restructuring that the company puts down to the convergence between digital TV and the internet. A cost reduction program designed to save CHF 90 million (€74m) per year will be put in place from the second half of 2012 and around 270 jobs are expected to go.
Kudelski currently has 3,000 employees, many in high cost locations such as Switzerland, which is expected to account for a third of the reduction in headcount.
From January 1, 2012 the executive management of the group will be reduced to four members, while the Nagra Audio activity will be spun off to the Kudelski family itself.
The new board will comprise André Kudelski, CEO; Mauro Saladini, EVP Finance; Pierre Roy, EVP Sales and Operations and Alex Osadzinski, EVP Strategy & Business Development.
The company said the objective was to face the economic crisis impacting several regions of operation as well as the strengthening of the Swiss franc, and to address the changing needs of the new television and Internet markets. A consultation process will shortly get underway.
As part of the changes the OpenTV business and those of the conditional access business will be integrated as a single unit. Both security and middleware platforms will be simplified with the number of different platforms reduced.
A new Cybersecurity unit is being created, building on Kudelski’s know-how in fighting pirate attacks. The unit intends to offer its services beyond the pay-TV arena to third party businesses, extending to Internet security and privacy protection.