Prisma to lay off 67 support staff after Coop takeover

Prisma Peremarket, a supermarket chain acquired by Coop Eesti Keskühistu this year, has notified the Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund of a collective redundancy affecting 67 support unit employees, ERR reported. The number represents about 10 percent of the company’s total workforce.

The company said store employees would not be affected.

The redundancies are linked to the sale of Prisma Peremarket to its new owner. Positions in Prisma’s support unit are being eliminated because their duties overlap with roles in the new owner’s structure. Support unit employees include product group coordinators and a communications manager.

Maren Penu, head of Prisma Peremarket’s support units, said the company would pay the employees who received redundancy notices the compensation required by law. The final number of redundancies will be determined during the process, while the notice period will range from one to three months depending on an employee’s length of service.

Prisma Peremarket, which previously belonged to Finland’s SOK group, has operated in Estonia since 2000. At the beginning of September, it had 13 stores in Tallinn, Harju County, Tartu, Narva and Rapla.