SAS announced Tuesday that they have initiated the processes of reducing their full-time workforce by up to 5,000 positions. Impacted SAS employees will receive an average notice of six months and the reduction will include employees in Sweden, Norway and Denmark.
Today, SAS announced that they are proactively taking steps to reduce their full-time workforce by up to 5,000 employees. The headcount reduction will include around 1,900 full-time positions in Sweden, 1,300 in Norway and 1,700 in Denmark. Impacted employees will receive an average notice of around six months. The process will be carried out in accordance with the labor law practice of each country and in consultation with the appropriate labor unions and other stakeholders to minimize the actual number of layoffs across the group where possible. In Tuesday’s announcement, SAS’ CEO, Rickard Gustafson said,
“COVID-19 has forced SAS to face a new and unprecedented reality that will reverberate not only in the coming months, but also during the coming years. Our ambition is to continue to be the leading airline in Scandinavia and to have a leading role in the Scandinavian infrastructure as a guarantor of national and international connectivity. In order to continue this important societal function, we need to adapt our cost base to prevailing circumstances. Regretfully, we are forced to adapt our workforce to lower passenger demand. Not least in view of the company’s successful journey in recent years, which has been made possible by the great work done by SAS’s competent and dedicated employees. We will now work intensively together with trade union representatives and others to identify solutions so that as few people as possible are affected. Furthermore, we remain ready to quickly ramp-up operations and reduce the number of affected positions if demand recovers more quickly.”
SAS is the leading airline in Scandinavia, carrying over 30 million passengers annually from its main hubs in Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm to 125 destinations in Europe, the US and Asia. The company has targeted a reduction in carbon emissions by 25% by 2030 compared to 2005 levels and hopes to transition to 100% biofuel for domestic flights by 2030.
Source: SAS