Yoox Reaches Agreement on Redundancies Saving Jobs

The Italian off-price pioneer Yoox, which recently faced operational challenges, has successfully concluded a dispute regarding employee redundancies, significantly reducing the number of affected staff. The initial plan to lay off 211 employees has been scaled back to 145, an announcement made by the Minister for Enterprises and Made in Italy, Adolfo Urso, following a pivotal meeting held on December 3 at Rome’s Palazzo Piacentini.

LuxExperience, the multi-brand digital luxury group that owns Yoox, expressed "satisfaction" with the outcome. In a statement, the German company confirmed that an agreement had been reached with trade unions and institutions, bringing the consultation process launched in September to a positive conclusion. The group highlighted its strong commitment to finding shared and responsible solutions aimed at minimizing social impact, confirming that individual meetings with the affected employees would commence shortly.

The group, known until January 2025 as MYT Netherlands Parents B.V., extended its gratitude to all parties involved for their cooperation in achieving a balanced agreement that protects individuals and supports a return to solid growth. LuxExperience also reaffirmed its robust commitment to strengthening its presence in Italy, underscoring the country's continued strategic importance as a long-term operational hub for the entire group and as the home of Yoox, a pioneer in off-price luxury. The company aims to maintain its key role as an employer in Italy, anticipating positive employment effects in the medium to long term.

Minister Urso hailed the agreement as "a victory for Yoox workers," attributing it to months of unwavering commitment alongside social partners. He described it as a success born of teamwork, validating the "Mimit method" – a process based on genuine dialogue and a shared path – as the effective approach to revitalizing industry and safeguarding employment. The Minister emphasized the intensive negotiations between the company, trade unions, and institutions, highlighting the adoption of a non-disruptive path through social safety measures and incentives for voluntary departures.

The newly forged agreement will now be presented to the workers for their consideration. All parties involved are now focusing their efforts on Yoox's comprehensive industrial and commercial relaunch, according to a statement from the ministry.

Yoox was founded in 2000 by Emilia-Romagna entrepreneur Federico Marchetti, rapidly evolving into an Emilia-Romagna "unicorn" with a market valuation exceeding one billion dollars. In 2015, it merged with the British Net-a-Porter. The combined entity, YNAP, was subsequently acquired in 2018 by the Swiss luxury giant Richemont, known for brands like Cartier and Montblanc. In October 2024, Richemont signed an agreement to divest YNAP to the German group Mytheresa, with the acquisition finalizing in the spring.

LuxExperience, the new identity adopted by the Munich-based German fashion retailer Mytheresa following its acquisition of the Anglo-Italian Yoox Net-a-Porter, unveiled ambitious plans and significant structural changes last May. Its strategic roadmap projects achieving €4 billion in revenue by 2030, alongside a positive adjusted EBITDA margin of approximately 7-9% and adjusted EBITDA exceeding €300 million. To realize these goals, LuxExperience plans to invest between €200 million and €250 million in its restructuring efforts by 2028, an investment expected to generate annual savings of nearly €150 million in the long run.

In the months that followed the acquisition and strategic announcement, LuxExperience sold its other off-price platform, The Outnet, to The O Group. The context for the recent redundancies at Yoox emerged from the company's financial performance, with Ansa news agency reporting a €191 million decline in Yoox's revenue in the last financial year and cumulative losses exceeding €2 billion over the past two years. This challenging backdrop led to a reorganisation by LuxExperience, centralizing functions previously handled by Yoox at the group level, concurrently with the announced redundancies.