Körber Group will slash its tobacco sector workforce by 800, mostly at Hauni Maschinenbau in Hamburg, in response to poor market conditions, the Bergedorfer Zeitung reported.

About 500 jobs, or about one quarter of the workforce, will be eliminated at the Hamburg headquarters of Hauni, the newspaper said on its website. Where the remaining 300 cuts would be made was not specified. Hauni, a leading supplier of machinery for all stages of tobacco production, currently employs about 4,600 people in Germany and around the world.
Körber, Hauni's parent company, expects revenues from the tobacco business will decline 35 to 40 per cent in the mid- to long term, according to Hauni Chief Executive Officer Christopher Somm, as quoted by the Bergedorfer Zeitung. The job cuts are expected to impact both manufacturing and the front office, according to the newspaper.