Tuesday, 29th October 2019, Velenje
Hisense to found a company headquartered in Slovenia to manage all European operations
Since
the takeover, a number of integration activities have been under way at the
Gorenje Group to make its merger with Hisense Group's global organization as
seamless as possible. As announced by Hisense upon acquisition, Gorenje and
Slovenia are to become the centre of all Hisense Group's European operations.
As the integration process continues, Gorenje Group is thus being further
reshaped from business and organizational aspect. In the next step, this shall
include separating the manufacturing part of the Velenje-based company from the
administrative part of the company that will have its seat in Ljubljana.
Adjusting the organizational structure to
the new business environment within which we operate as a part of the Hisense
Corporation requires further optimization of efficiency and a leaner functional
organization of the Gorenje Group, fully in sync with Hisense Group's
organization. The final steps of the integration also include separation of the
Gorenje's manufacturing part from the administrative part of the company,
establishment of shared regional service centres, and merging of international
sales units.
In the process of Gorenje Group's
reshaping, we shall separate Gorenje's manufacturing part from the
administrative part by transferring all corporate support functions for the
entire European part of the Hisense Group to the company Hisense Europe that
will be headquartered in Ljubljana. Thus, Hisense will – as announced upon
takeover – make Slovenia the headquarters for managing all of its European
operations, while the company Gorenje d.o.o. will only include production in
Velenje and its subsidiaries. Employees whose jobs are related to management
will become employees of Hisense Europe; however, some functions will remain in
Velenje.
Due to unfavourable situation in the labour
market and problems with recruiting suitable human resources, we shall, in
order to keep as many jobs as possible, also establish some shared functions at
Velenje offices and organize them as shared services and competence centres for
the entire Europe/Hisense Group, while shutting down these same functions in
other countries where costs related to them are higher. Call centres will also
be regionally organized, in four locations for all of Europe.
Moreover, we shall complete the integration
of Gorenje and Hisense sales business units in respective markets in Europe and
the CIS region. These units will henceforth be combined in a single company,
also in terms of their legal status.