"A shock for us"

Windhager: 90 employees apparently laid off

(Bild: APA/BARBARA GINDL)

The takeover of Salzburg heating manufacturer Windhager, which slipped into insolvency at the beginning of January 2024, by the parent company of Upper Austrian water treatment company BWT is now having an impact on employees. According to media reports, 90 of the 440 employees have been made redundant. The trade union had hoped that the number of those losing their jobs would be significantly lower.

The bad news came at a works meeting on Wednesday afternoon for the 90 Windhager employees. "They will no longer have a job from March 1," said Daniel Mühlberger from the Producing Union (PRO GE). Neither Mühlberger nor the new owner of Windhager could be reached for comment by APA.

Remaining staff will probably have to work more
"It's a shock for us - we didn't expect such a large number of departures," Mühlberger regretted. Until now, it had always been said that the entire workforce would be kept on. We knew that there would be adjustments here and there, said the trade unionist.

Those employees who are able to remain at Windhager will apparently receive new employment contracts, some of which will include new content: "We are currently looking at the employment contracts in detail. We know that parts of the wage structures, such as bonuses, will be restructured differently and that the future employer will also demand more hours from the existing, future workforce," said Mühlberger.

The takeover has already been approved by the competition authorities. The business operations of the sales and service company "Windhager Zentralheizung GmbH" will be transferred to "BHT - Best Heating Technology - GmbH" from March 1, while those of the production and technology company will be transferred from "Windhager Zentralheizung Technik GmbH" to "HIDU GmbH". The Windhager brand name is retained.

BHT and HIDU are wholly owned subsidiaries of BHT Holding GmbH, which in turn is owned by FIBA Beteiligungs- und Anlage GmbH. The latter is also the majority owner of the BWT Group, which has been active in the water treatment business for decades. BWT stands for Best Water Technology. The managing director of the two former Windhager companies will be BWT managing director Andreas Weißenbacher.