Citizen Watch does not expect the analog watch market to climb back to its former glory. As a result it has offered buyout packages to 550 of its 3000 employees of Citizen Watch’s analog watch unit.
As a result, nearly 20% of Citizen Watch Manufacturing Co’s workforce will be facing voluntary retirement. Citizen Watch has stated it will provide retired employees with support for re-employment. Main culprits for the drastic move are the rise of the smartwatch and the covid19 pandemic.
Press release below:
An analog watch manufacturing unit of Citizen Watch Co. will offer buyout packages to 550 employees, the parent company said Tuesday. The move by Citizen Watch Manufacturing Co. comes as analog watch demand has been falling amid strong sales of smartwatches and the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. The unit, based in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, north of Tokyo, judged that analog watch demand will not recover in the medium and long term. Citizen Watch Manufacturing has some 3,000 employees working at 17 factories in 10 prefectures across Japan, including Hokkaido, Fukushima, Niigata and Nagano. Employees who will receive the buyouts, aged 36 or older, are set to leave the company at the end of December. [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
Losing Faith in Analog