Finnish group Metsä announces that it has opened statutory negotiations across all its businesses, in line with its plan to improve profitability presented in July 2025. The group, which specializes in wood processing and the production of pulp, paperboard and bio-based solutions, currently employs around 9âeuros600 people worldwide in its five business areas (Metsä Forest, Metsä Wood, Metsä Fibre, Metsä Board and Metsä Tissue), including 5âeuros600 in Finland. With these changes, it expects to save 300 million euros.
This reorganization could result in the permanent loss of 800 jobs, or more than 8% of the total workforce. Nearly 540 jobs in Finland will be affected. Metsä Board, the Group's listed subsidiary dedicated to virgin fiberboard, is also affected, with a workforce reduction of 315, including 155 in Finland.
Three factors behind Metsä Group's decline in profitability
Metsä Group Chairman and CEO Jussi Vanhanen points to three major factors that have weakened the Group's profitability: falling demand due to uncertainties in world trade, the negative impact of exchange rates on financial results, and the general increase in production costs, particularly raw materials.
"We are in a capital-intensive industry, where lower utilization rates coupled with higher costs are not sustainable in the long term." says the executive.
Reduce fixed and variable costs without closing production units
The targeted savings will not involve closing production units. Instead, Metsä Group intends to streamline its operations. The plan focuses in particular on procurement costs and logistics, as well as on optimizing the wood supply chain, which accounts for a significant proportion of expenses. Efforts will also be made to control variable costs.
The Group is referring to the need to overhaul its organization in order to reduce fixed costs. These measures will potentially also involve changes in positions and responsibilities for some of the staff.
Development projects maintained
The Group's pilot projects, such as Muoto (molded fiber packaging) , Kuura (the cellulose-based textile range) as well as research into lignin and the capture of CO2 from biological sources, will continue on schedule. There are no plans to halt these initiatives, which are in line with the Group's long-term strategy of sustainable development and substitution of fossil materials.
The costs of implementing the program will be included in the financial results for the final quarter of 2025, the Group said. Discussions with employee representatives will begin shortly, depending on national legislation in the countries concerned
