AUSTRIA - Blum, one of the largest furniture hardware manufacturers, will cease operations from March 23 to April 5. In doing so, the family-owned company wants to protect the health of its employees and respond to the rapidly declining demand from the markets affected by the coronavirus worldwide.

The hardware manufacturer is also badly affected by the Corona crisis. Around 300 employees are currently self-isolating at home, partly by the authorities and partly by the company. Orders from the international sales markets have plummeted and orders in markets such as the USA are also likely to decline.

“We currently see this as the best way to protect the health of our employees and to remain able to act after the pandemic,” explains Managing Director Philipp Blum.

Nevertheless, the company also accepts customer orders during this time and supplies them with fittings.

In the two weeks, Blum operates minimally, analogous to the annual company vacation in summer. This means that in most areas all activities are laid down, few, such as the delivery of stocked products and the services for global customers, should continue.

In order to bridge this period, the flextime and remaining vacation accounts of the workforce are debited, then the corona short-time working model of the Austrian government takes effect. The company sees this step as a sensible and good measure to preserve jobs in the long term. Philipp Blum explains: “We will do everything we can to come out of this crisis stronger and stronger. For this reason, we have to apply these drastic but also stabilizing measures.”