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AFP
Published
Sep 6, 2010
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Swatch to create new jobs in Switzerland

By
AFP
Published
Sep 6, 2010

ZURICH, Sept 4, 2010 AFP © - Swiss luxury watchmaker Swatch will create several hundred new jobs as it expands production to meet strong global demand, its chairman said in comments published on Saturday.

Nick Hayek, Swatch
Nick Hayek, recently appointed chairman of Swatch following the death of former chairman Nicolas Hayek earlier this year. Photo : Corbis

"We are in the process of increasing our capacities to meet growing demand," Nick Hayek said in an interview with Le Temps newspaper.

"We have purchased several pieces of land in different parts of Switzerland to build new factories," he said.

Hayek said Swatch, the world's largest watch group, would create new jobs in the expansion, but he did not give a total figure.

""For example at ETA (a subsidiary that produces watch movements) we are looking for 150 people. Omega, alone, needs 30 more watchmakers. Not tomorrow, but today," he said.

Swatch's turnover is expected to pass 6 billion Swiss francs (4.6 billion euros/5.9 billion dollars) this year, according to Hayek

Sales are expected to increase by 5 to 10 percent in the next year, despite uncertainties in the global economy, he said.

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