Makro to lay off hundreds

German big-box wholesaler Makro has announced its intention to lay off several hundred staff across its Netherlands branches. Fifty four employees at the Breda branch have already been laid off, in addition to dozens of layoffs at the company's Amsterdam-Duivendrecht offices earlier this year. Originally a Dutch-owned company, Makro currently operates in 17 locations in the Netherlands, with approximately 3,200 employees. While Makro's German parent company, Metro AG, has not commented on the situation, unions FNV and CNV Services confirmed that the new round of redundancies were announced at a staff meeting late last week. The exact number of employees to be laid off remains unclear. The reduction in staff is part of the firm's "Customer First!" reorganization plan, introduced earlier this year. The plan is intended to guard against increased competition from other wholesales, especially with food and consumables. Metro AG also owns technology chains MediaMarkt and Saturn.