Danish offshore wind turbine manufacturer Vestas will lay off 400 workers in Denmark and elsewhere in Europe and stop work on certain projects, citing the goal to „to ensure a strong focus on execution and long-term competitiveness,” and the impact of COVID-19.

"In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has and will continue to shape societies and economies, and the industrial challenges and economic turmoil it brings will likely take years for societies to recover from. Together with the renewables industry’s changing competitive landscape, Vestas is taking steps to ensure we exit 2020 in the position of strength with which we entered it, “ Vestas said.

"...due to the extraordinary situation from the pandemic, additional measures are needed to ensure the organisation executes as strongly as possible on our order backlog and customer commitments in 2020,” Vestas said.

"To this end, Vestas intends to reduce its workforce across functions in Denmark that do not directly support 2020 deliveries."

"As a consequence of these measures, Vestas intends to lay off approximately 400 employees, which will primarily affect locations in Denmark. A limited number of layoffs is also expected in other locations in Europe. Additionally, Vestas’ registered directors in Executive Management will take a 10 percent pay-cut until end of 2020,” the company said.

President and CEO of Vestas, Henrik Andersen, says "We’re in a period of high uncertainty and by making a strategic decision on our product portfolio and reduce complexity, we sustain our competitiveness in the future and ensure we can adjust quickly to COVID-19 challenges. It’s always difficult to say goodbye to good colleagues and the timing for these decisions is never good, but our responsibility is to strengthen Vestas for long-term success. By making Vestas and wind energy more competitive, we want to provide the solutions that make the energy transition an integral part of rebuilding societies and economies, and ultimately creating jobs across the value chain”.

Vestas said the layoffs were expected to affect most Vestas locations in Denmark with the majority in Aarhus and Lem, due to technology projects driven from those locations being stopped.

Vestas’ temporary facility in Viborg, which was established to serve specific projects from MHI Vestas Offshore Wind, will be closed. 

"Following today’s announcement, Vestas employs more than 25,500 people globally and around 4,000 in Denmark," Vestas said Monday.