The online fashion platform undergoes the consequences of inflation, while its management has been in crisis for several months.
by Cécile Boutelet (Berlin, Correspondence)
Zalando, the darling child of the German digital scene, is experiencing a first big setback, after years of insolent growth. Tuesday, February 21, the European Leader online fashion platform announced its intention to remove several hundred positions within the company. In a letter sent to the staff, the group’s founders and managers, Robert Gentz and David Schneider, admitted that the company had grown too quickly, to the detriment of its flexibility, while the economic situation has become more difficult.
The site thus puts a stop at the Franche increase in its staff in recent years. Between 2020 and 2021, the number of employees, increased by the turnover, increased from 14,200 to 17,000, divided into Europe. During the COVVI-19 pandemic, Group recorded growth of almost 30 % in 2021: consumers, deprived of city shopping and outings, reported their budget on online offers. Zalando, which offers fashion articles, but also cosmetics, particularly benefited.
But, today, economic slowdown and high inflation have reduced the desires of purchases related to clothing. The group, which had published a warning on the results in June 2022, again revised its projections downwards in November 2022. Last year (the results will be known on March 7), the turnover should not Having progressed that between zero at only 3 %, between 10.4 and 10.7 billion euros, far from the two -digit growth rhythms recorded in 2020 and 2021.
management and administrative functions
According to information from the Financial Times, 5 % of employees may be forced to leave the company, following the job elimination plan announced on Tuesday. Management has not given a specific figure, just saying that logistics centers, customer services or destocking stores should not be affected. It is within management and administrative functions that the staff reductions should be the strongest, specifies the mail of the two directors. Negotiations with staff representatives should start in the coming days.
After SAP (software), Zalando is the second German technological group to cut in its workforce. Like the big ones of Silicon Valley: Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta or Salesforce have removed tens of thousands of positions in recent months, in the wake of the slowdown in the growth of digital activities after the COVVI-19 pandemic .
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