On Wednesday, the union confirmed that Saturn/MediaMarkt stores in the grand duchy would not be affected by redundancies as part of the group’s restructuring plan. 

“There won't be any staff lay-offs, however there will be employees whose job description will change, forcing them to redirect to a different position” said David Angel, central secretary of the OGBL’s trade union. 

The two Saturn stores in Luxembourg, located in Avenue de la gare in Luxembourg City and in Belval Plaza shopping centre in Esch-Belval, currently count 130 employees. 

Prioritizing sales 

As of 1 June 2021, both stores will be renamed MediaMarkt and their space will be reduced from two floors to just one. Whereas currently around 60% of employees work in sales, this percentage is set to rise to 85% at the expense of marketing, support and administrative management positions. 

This is because the management plans to centralise these positions at the Benelux level. The plan is expected to run for three years, says the OGBL, pointing out that in the entire Benelux region, 450 jobs will be lost out of a worldwide total of 3,500. 

According to the union, bases in Rotterdam and Brussels will bear the brunt of these cuts. For the employees concerned in Luxembourg, support and training as well as a job retention plan are already underway.  

This article was originally published in French by Paperjam and translated for Delano