Swiss watchmaker IWC is cutting 18 of roughly 800 jobs at its Schaffhausen manufacturing site, the company confirmed, after a financial blog Inside Paradeplatz first reported that “several dozen” employees faced dismissal.
IWC’s annual production has fallen from a past peak of around 170,000 watches to fewer than 100,000 today.
IWC spokesperson Riccardo Soliani Brivio confirmed the cuts directly to a local newspaper. “Of the roughly 800 employees in Schaffhausen, 18 positions are affected,” he said, adding that the company had reached individual agreements with all affected employees and that each would receive tailored support.
In a separate statement to the news agency AWP, an IWC spokesperson said the company is “adjusting parts of its organisational structure to reflect the company’s ongoing development and long-term plans.” IWC emphasised it remains committed to its Schaffhausen production site and continues to invest there.
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IWC Confirms 18 Job Cuts: Union Confirms The Figure, Notes A Social Plan
The Unia Zürich-Schaffhausen union confirmed the 18-job reduction in a statement reported by regional outlet Zürioberland24. According to the union, IWC attributed the move to an organisational restructuring, and a social plan for the affected employees was negotiated together with the social partners. Unia’s statement affirmed that the roughly 800-person Schaffhausen site itself is not at risk.
Wider Layoffs Reported, but Not Independently Confirmed
Before the company’s confirmation, the financial blog Inside Paradeplatz cited an anonymous source claiming “several dozen” employees, not just 18, faced dismissal, and described a pattern of “salami-style” job cuts at the Richemont subsidiary in recent years.
20 Minuten likewise noted the discrepancy, reporting that Inside Paradeplatz’s account pointed to a “much larger” reduction than the confirmed 18. As of publication, no outlet — including wire services AWP and Keystone-ATS, which distributed the story to Swiss financial media — had independently verified a headcount reduction beyond the confirmed 18 positions.
This slump mirrors broader pressure across Richemont’s watchmaking division and the wider Swiss watch industry. Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) reported that Swiss watch exports fell 1.7% in 2025 to CHF 25.6 billion, with sector employment down 1.3% over the same period. Richemont’s own specialist watchmaking division — which includes IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Panerai and Vacheron Constantin — posted an operating margin of just 3.4% in its most recent fiscal year, down from 5.3% a year earlier, with sales down 4% in reported currency terms.
Allegedly CEO Christoph Grainger-Herr, who drives two expensive company vehicles, said that executive team members declined to accept pay reductions, and that IWC leadership intends to close stores in expensive locations.
What is confirmed by multiple independent sources — IWC’s own spokesperson, the Unia union, and wire agency AWP — is a reduction of 18 positions at the Schaffhausen site, tied to an organizational restructuring and accompanied by a negotiated social plan.
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