Electrolux Group (owner of the Frigidaire brand) is cutting roughly 2,100 jobs in 2026. On May 12, the Italian government convened emergency talks after Electrolux confirmed plans to cut 1,700 jobs across its Italian operations and shut the Cerreto d'Esi plant in the Marche region, a site that has been making appliances for decades. That announcement layers on top of a March 31 decision to close the Santiago, Chile factory, eliminating 400 jobs and triggering a SEK 0.5 billion restructuring charge. Products previously made at Santiago will be sourced from other Electrolux factories and external partners.
This is no longer a quiet cost-competitiveness review. Electrolux has lost the value end of the appliance market to Chinese brands Midea, Haier, and Hisense, who have undercut European and US incumbents on price for refrigerators, washers, and small appliances. The stock is down roughly 75% from its 2021 peak. The Italian round is large enough that the national government got involved within hours of the announcement, signaling a political fight over Cerreto d'Esi and broader Marche-region industrial jobs. For comparison: Whirlpool cut 341 in Iowa earlier in 2026 while shifting production to Mexico. Electrolux's situation is structural, not regional, and it pulls the entire global appliance category into the same demand-collapse story that has been hitting cars, consumer electronics, and discretionary goods.