The Ficosa plant in Viladecavalls (Barcelona) is preparing for a major layoff: the company has notified unions of its intention to dismiss 172 employees. This decision is linked to a decline in automotive sector production volumes, which directly affects the plant’s workload. According to El Periódico, this represents about one fifth of the factory’s total staff, which currently numbers around 800 people.
Most of those who may be laid off are production line workers and support staff, such as logistics and quality control. Union sources say about 125 people fall into these categories. Almost 50 more employees are engineers involved in the development and maintenance of technological processes. Ficosa management explains that the company is forced to adapt its structure to the current level of orders and market activity.
Plans for staff reductions were presented to employee representatives about three weeks ago. Negotiations between the parties are expected to begin in the coming days. According to the unions, some of the layoffs may occur through early retirement or voluntary departures with severance, as many employees are over 50 or 60 years old.
In an official statement, Ficosa emphasizes that the decision to initiate the ERE was made in response to changes in demand from automakers and a decline in project volume at the Viladecavalls site. The company notes that it is acting with maximum responsibility and is prepared for open dialogue with employees. The statement also refers to the challenging situation faced by the global automotive industry, which is impacting Spanish enterprises as well.
The Viladecavalls plant specializes in the production of advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), including cameras, sensors, and other electronic components for vehicles. Earlier this year, control of Ficosa passed to the Pujol family after Japan’s Panasonic sold its 69% stake in the company.
The situation with mass layoffs at industrial enterprises in Spain is becoming increasingly noticeable amid other labor market changes. For example, a large-scale migrant legalization process was recently launched in the country, but this process has been complicated by a strike of Extranjería employees, which was discussed in detail in the article about the impact of the strike on the processing of migrants’ applications.
