ABB Norway has informed the employees that it will implement capacity adjustments as a result of prolonged failure in particular oil and gas related industries.

“This is a day we have feared would come, but as we have hoped in hard to avoid. We have followed the market closely and examined possible measures over a long time. The decline has been noticeable for a while, and all indications are that it will be prolonged. We therefore have to adapt our organization to a situation with a lower level of activity,” says CEO Steffen Waal of ABB in Norway.

A great deal of power and automation business of ABB in Norway is related to oil and gas and shipbuilding, where it today invested considerably less than for just a few years ago.

The downsizing includes up to 260 employees in several parts of the business to ABB in Norway.

“This is a tough day for all of ABB, but just as we employ when there is demand, we must reduce capacity when the market is declining over time. We strive to conduct downsizing in the most gentle manner and a solution-oriented dialogue with the unions,” says Waal.

Capacity adjustments is one of several initiatives ABB is implementing to meet a new life with lower activity levels in the market.

“It’s time to make those initiatives that are necessary for us to fulfill most of our competitiveness in a challenging market,” says ABB’s CEO.

ABB in Norway has around 2,500 employees and had sales of 10.7 billion in 2014. The company is part of the ABB Group with around 140,000 employees in about 100 countries.