In the year it celebrates 120 years of activity, the company headquartered in the district of Aveiro and in the Porto Metropolitan Area thus begins a "restructuring process" justified by the losses that had "a direct impact on the Cifial group's turnover".

According to a source from the unit located in Rio Meão, the layoff was announced this Monday to the firm's management team by its general director, Luís Rodrigues, who stated: "This restructuring is a direct consequence of the drop in sales felt in 2023 and to which a first quarter of 2024 much below expectations is added, with negative consequences for the company's results, reversing the previous growth trend".

In 2023, Cifial recorded a turnover of 13 million euros, which was below the 16.6 million of the previous year.

The foreign market absorbed 80% of the 2023 production and, of all the material exported, 20% was sent to the United Kingdom and 70% to the United States of America, but in both destinations the brand suffered  drops in demand.

Luís Rodrigues notes, however, that the layoff of the 35 employees is not the only measure planned to combat the problem. "Together with a set of initiatives aimed at reducing costs and increasing productivity, these decisions will be decisive in ensuring a reversal of the current situation and thus ensuring greater future competitiveness", he explains.

With the current 168 workers distributed between the metalworking industry, in Rio Meão, and the company's foreign branch in the United Kingdom, Cifial defends that "the actions now implemented aim to strengthen the group, providing it with the necessary capacity to resume leadership of the national market and solidify its position as a national benchmark brand in bathroom solutions, even expanding the base of its portfolio".

In 2019, when it employed more than 300 people, Cifial became part of the multinational group that, headed by Kinlong Hardware Products, is considered a leader in the construction equipment market. Representing a total industrial area of around 600,000 square meters, this group currently employs around 13,000 people and operates in more than 100 countries.

The current collective layoff at Cifial joins others seen in recent years: in 2021 the Portuguese company dismissed 13 workers, which the sector's union attributed at the time to a "transition period" following the covid-19 pandemic, and in 2022 the firm terminated 41 employees, due to what it then classified as "the unsustainable" 400% increase in gas costs"

Leia Também: Trabalhadores abrangidos por despedimentos coletivos aumentam 88% (Portuguese version)