Bosch Braga is facing scrutiny from public figures after entering a temporary layoff phase due to a shortage of electronic parts. Former leader of the Left Bloc, Catarina Martins, stressed the importance of ensuring jobs are retained, noting that Bosch receives funds from the Portuguese government to preserve employment.
“If we pay, collectively as a country, for Bosch to maintain jobs here, we must demand that these jobs are indeed maintained, and that is not happening,” Martins stated.
She argued that if a company fails to uphold jobs, the Portuguese government “should act and not leave workers alone in difficult negotiations with the company, which always end with the workers losing.”
Martins further emphasized that it is the President of the Republic’s duty to assert that “when public money is allocated to a multinational for job retention in Portugal, the Portuguese government cannot leave the workers alone when the company does not comply.”
Bosch in Braga commenced its layoff phase this month, expected to last “until presumably” April 2026, linked to the component shortage. This move impacts 2,500 employees.
The layoff involves a temporary reduction in normal working hours or suspension of work contracts initiated by companies, due to market, structural, or technological reasons, or disasters or other incidents that seriously affect the company’s normal operations.
Catarina Martins also criticized the stock management strategies of large companies, describing them as “irresponsible.”
“They never have stocks, and any small international shake-up leads to layoffs or dismissals. This is unacceptable. The industry must have a strategy to ensure the continuity of its operations,” she advocated.
Martin insists that Europe needs a reindustrialization strategy, “which is always promised but never materializes, yet it is very important.”
“And it’s because it doesn’t exist that when there’s a supply interruption from China, some companies simply stop. There’s also an issue of the European Union’s subservience to the United States,” she added.
Bosch has announced that once the electronic components shortage is resolved, “production in Braga should return to normal.”
Maximiliano Pereira, from the Workers’ Committee, stated that the company currently employs around 3,300 people in Braga.
He added that since September of the previous year, approximately 700 employees have left.
