Electrolux suspends 1,719 layoffs for 50 days as Italy demands new industrial plan
The Swedish appliance maker agreed to freeze its contested redundancy plan involving 1,719 jobs and factory closures after Italy's industry minister branded it unacceptable. Talks now aim for a deal before the August summer break.
Electrolux has suspended its collective redundancy procedure in Italy for 50 days, backing away from unilateral layoffs and site closures during a government-brokered negotiation convened at the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy (Mimit) on 15 June 2026.
Government ultimatum at Mimit
Minister Adolfo Urso opened the meeting by rejecting the company's plan outright.
Urso told the table he demanded Electrolux refrain from any unilateral moves and instead commit to a rapid, intensive round of talks.The government's judgment is clear: the plan presented by the company is unacceptable and cannot be accepted, defeatist on the industrial front and unsustainable in its social impact. We need a turning point right now: we must already indicate a new path today.
Company's response
Electrolux Italia CEO Massimiliano Ranieri responded by stating the company would not proceed with unilateral actions during the discussion period. Sources at the meeting said the firm lamented a difficult operating environment, citing a stagnant European market, complicated EU regulation, consumers trading down to lower-tier products, and a widening gap with Asian competitors.
We do not intend to proceed with unilateral actions during the discussion. A shared path can be set in motion to find a solution.
The contested plan
The plan would have cut roughly 40% of Electrolux's Italian workforce, eliminating 1,719 positions and closing the Cerreto d'Esi plant. It arrives amid a broader crisis in Italy's home-appliance sector, already shaken by the Whirlpool-Beko restructuring. Minister for Parliamentary Relations Luca Ciriani, whose constituency includes the Porcia site, called the original proposal absolutely unacceptable but welcomed the company's opening as a first step.
Union reaction: armed truce
Union leaders greeted the suspension as a hard-won pause, not a resolution.
Fiom's Michele De Palma described the moment as an armed truce with Electrolux, while Fim's Ferdinando Uliano stressed the need to see institutional financial commitments tested in practice rather than left on paper. USB took a harder line, saying it does not trust the company and insisting layoffs and closures must be removed from the table entirely.The situation is not resolved definitively. But the plan is suspended and the company will not launch any initiative unilaterally. I think this is a first step forward that we can greet with cautious optimism, the result of the joint mobilisations of recent weeks.
Fifty-day clock
Urso has set a target of reaching a sustainable agreement before the summer break, roughly by 6–7 August. That leaves about seven to eight weeks of scheduled talks with the company, unions, Confindustria, and regional and municipal governments, all of which attended the Mimit meeting. The aim is an alternative framework built on skills retention, employment protection, and safeguarding production capacity.
- First government-brokered meeting at Mimit on Electrolux restructuring plan
- Second Mimit meeting: Urso rejects plan, Electrolux agrees to suspend unilateral action for 50 days
- Target date set by Minister Urso to reach a final agreement before summer break
