Lego cuts 161 jobs in Denmark

By Staff -- Playthings, 2/5/2003 10:40:00 AM

BILLUND, Denmark — Lego said this week that it is laying off 161 production employees at its manufacturing facility here as the building toy maker reacts to the effects of a slowdown in Christmas sales.

"With consumer optimism flagging — especially in the United States — we have no option but to trim production to current warehouse stock levels," said Poul Ploughman, Lego's chief operating officer.

Because of slow holiday sales, Lego predicts lower demand for new product from retailers left with stocks still relatively high.

The layoffs are in five areas of production: processing, plastics machining, packing, maintenance and support. In Billund, these units employ a total of 1,500.

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