quinta-feira, 26 de Fevereiro de 2009
sábado, 14 de Fevereiro de 2009
quinta-feira, 12 de Fevereiro de 2009
Foster's to make 300 to 400 redundancies
Foster & Partners shuts Berlin and Istanbul offices as it flies in face of earlier job pledges
Foster & Partners has announced plans to make around a quarter of its workforce redundant and has closed two of its 17 offices around the globe.
Despite repeated denials by senior management including chief executive Mouzhan Majidi, who insisted just two weeks ago that the firm could avoid any cuts to its 1,300-strong workforce, the practice announced yesterday it is proposing redundancies – understood to number between 300 and 400 staff members – and has closed both its Istanbul office and Berlin office, home of some of its best known projects including the Reichstag.
The move was announced in a letter to staff, which said there would be a 90 day consultation and pointed to "a significant decline in work within the practice". It comes less than two years after private equity group 3i took a minority stake in the business, promising to provide funds for expansion.
News of the redundancies sparked anger among staff who complained that just the previous day the practice had announced it had the fastest growing profits of a private equity backed firm, according to this year’s Sunday Times Deloitte Buyout Track 100.
Hailing this recognition on Monday, Majidi called the result testament to the strength of the Foster brand, adding: “it is a timely moment to have our financial performance and the investment of 3i recognised in this way.”
One architect facing redundancy, who did not wish to be named, said he had seen others in tears following news of job losses.
“It was out of the blue,” he said. “There was no proper announcement, no meetings and – more sarcastically – we were told we were one of the largest ‘profitable’ companies…just yesterday.”
Foster & Partners is divided into six design groups, and another anonymous staff member said that around 40% of both group six – headed by Nigel Dancey – and group three – which is run by Majidi – had been laid off, as well as a large proportion of Gerard Evenden’s group five, which handles a number of schemes in the United Arab Emirates.
The closure of the Berlin office – which worked mainly on eastern European and Russian projects and is reported to employ 76 staff – is a particular blow to the firm.
Foster’s is a huge name in Germany thanks to projects such as the Reichstag, Dresden central station and Frankfurt Commerzbank tower. News of the office closure there was described as “very sad” by president of the Berlin chamber of architects Klaus Meier Hartmann.
“Foster has done some very important projects,” he said. “It’s good to have important architects working here – good for our other architects and for the architectural culture.”
Foster & Partners has announced plans to make around a quarter of its workforce redundant and has closed two of its 17 offices around the globe.
Despite repeated denials by senior management including chief executive Mouzhan Majidi, who insisted just two weeks ago that the firm could avoid any cuts to its 1,300-strong workforce, the practice announced yesterday it is proposing redundancies – understood to number between 300 and 400 staff members – and has closed both its Istanbul office and Berlin office, home of some of its best known projects including the Reichstag.
The move was announced in a letter to staff, which said there would be a 90 day consultation and pointed to "a significant decline in work within the practice". It comes less than two years after private equity group 3i took a minority stake in the business, promising to provide funds for expansion.
News of the redundancies sparked anger among staff who complained that just the previous day the practice had announced it had the fastest growing profits of a private equity backed firm, according to this year’s Sunday Times Deloitte Buyout Track 100.
Hailing this recognition on Monday, Majidi called the result testament to the strength of the Foster brand, adding: “it is a timely moment to have our financial performance and the investment of 3i recognised in this way.”
One architect facing redundancy, who did not wish to be named, said he had seen others in tears following news of job losses.
“It was out of the blue,” he said. “There was no proper announcement, no meetings and – more sarcastically – we were told we were one of the largest ‘profitable’ companies…just yesterday.”
Foster & Partners is divided into six design groups, and another anonymous staff member said that around 40% of both group six – headed by Nigel Dancey – and group three – which is run by Majidi – had been laid off, as well as a large proportion of Gerard Evenden’s group five, which handles a number of schemes in the United Arab Emirates.
The closure of the Berlin office – which worked mainly on eastern European and Russian projects and is reported to employ 76 staff – is a particular blow to the firm.
Foster’s is a huge name in Germany thanks to projects such as the Reichstag, Dresden central station and Frankfurt Commerzbank tower. News of the office closure there was described as “very sad” by president of the Berlin chamber of architects Klaus Meier Hartmann.
“Foster has done some very important projects,” he said. “It’s good to have important architects working here – good for our other architects and for the architectural culture.”
Voltei voltei....
Já estou de volta a Londres mas com muito trabalho em Portugal...
A ver se agora arranjo um tempinho pra meter o blog em dia... ehehhe
A ver se agora arranjo um tempinho pra meter o blog em dia... ehehhe
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