Geneva-based luxury group Richemont is restructuring Montblanc, its watch brand based in Le Locle, due to declining demand. According to the Unia Neuchâtel trade union, quoted by the AWP news agency and reported by SWI swissinfo.ch on October 9, 2026, six employees have been laid off and others are being transferred to other companies within the group. The job cuts were finalised at the end of September.

Six layoffs out of a workforce of 45

According to union secretary Solenn Ochsner, the brand, founded in 1997, has 45 employees. The figures reported do not fully match. The source first states that Richemont is organising the transfer of 17 employees to other group companies and has laid off six people. It then quotes the Unia representative, according to whom “23 have accepted or are currently negotiating a transfer, and six have been laid off”. The gap between 17 and 23 transfers is not explained. In both readings, a significant share of the workforce is affected: between half and nearly two-thirds of the 45 positions.

Richemont is offering those affected positions in other entities of the group, including Cartier. A minority have agreed to join the Minerva manufacture in Villeret, in the Bernese Jura, which the group acquired in 2006. According to Solenn Ochsner, working conditions will not be quite the same, and some employees will have longer daily commutes. The source does not specify which conditions are changing or to what extent.

When contacted, Richemont was not immediately available for comment. The group’s version of the exact number of positions affected is therefore not known at this stage.

Entry-level and mid-range on the front line

The union representative explains that Montblanc is suffering from the crisis affecting the watch industry as a whole, which is hitting entry-level and mid-range watches particularly hard. The contrast with Minerva is stark: the brand, which specialises in the very high end, is doing “very well”, according to her. Richemont has turned its historic workshops, which date back to the nineteenth century, into a centre of excellence.

This case illustrates a crisis that is affecting segments unevenly: the pressure is concentrated on mid-priced ranges, while the very high end is holding up. This is, however, the assessment of a union representative. The source provides no figures on sales at Montblanc itself.

Group results that tell a different story

Richemont’s accounts offer a more nuanced reading. In the first quarter (April to June) of its 2026/27 financial year, the group’s revenue rose 17% year on year to EUR 6.3 billion (CHF 5.9 billion). The increase was driven mainly by jewellery, and neither the crisis in the Middle East nor the persistent decline in China held it back.

The group’s watch brands, for their part, returned to growth after two years of decline, rising 6% to EUR 873 million. This rebound remains well below that of the group as a whole, and it is measured over a single quarter. On its own, it does not allow the conclusion that the watch industry is emerging from the crisis. Nor does the source detail each watch brand’s contribution to this result.

What it means for jobs in the region

For the staff in Le Locle, the restructuring does not only mean layoffs: most of those affected are being offered a position elsewhere in the group. This internal redeployment nevertheless comes at a cost for the households concerned, according to Unia: different employment conditions and longer commutes. Travel between Le Locle and Villeret is one example. The source does not say whether further cuts are being considered at Montblanc. Nor does it say whether other watchmaking sites of the group are affected.

Sources