Infarm, Europe’s largest vertical farming company, is laying off 50 employees in an effort to cut costs and secure its path towards profitability, Stifted reported. The Berlin-based company, which is valued at over $1bn, said a looming recession, disruption of supply chains, and soaring energy costs were behind the decision.
The company has over 1,000 employees, meaning the layoffs represent 5% of its staff. Infarm, which has operations across Europe, Canada, Japan, and the US, declined to comment on which roles would be affected by the cuts.
At our request, Infarm came with the following statement:
"At Infarm, like others, we are preparing for challenging financial markets and a looming recession. Governments, civil societies, and companies around the world are facing a multitude of challenges right now, from climate to the economy, which has implications for global food supply and security. In addition, due mainly to the ongoing war in Ukraine, markets are volatile and slowing, worldwide energy and resource prices have risen immensely, and supply chains are significantly disrupted.
Therefore, Infarm is currently implementing a new strategy focused on more effective capital deployment, efficiency, and growth while continuing its commitment to high-quality standards across our product lines. The aim is to future-proof the business against ongoing global uncertainty, supply chain challenges, and the current economic slowdown in financial markets. To this end, Infarm is focussing on targeted growth and implementing technological advancements, including further digitizing and automating our processes.
Structural changes that reduce our operating costs to ensure that we can focus our business activities on driving profitability need to be made. In line with this strategy, we had to make the tough decision to reduce our global workforce to just over 1.000 employees. Approximately 50 employees in our central teams are impacted as a result of this. We are working with the affected colleagues to implement these changes and support them the best way we can in this difficult period."
For more information:
Infarm
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www.infarm.com