Caesarstone Factory (Wikipedia)
Israel’s engineered quartz surfaces maker Caesarstone, a worldwide company, is now forced to make cutbacks due to the global financial crisis. The company is expected to let go of as many as 200 people or 10% of its total workforce. Meanwhile, Brodmann17, a six-year-old Israeli startup that developed software for computer vision applications for automated vehicles, is almost officially caput as its own employees (the few who are left) went to court to force it to liquidate.
After going public in 2012, Caesarstone hit a $1 billion market cap in 2013. But now its market cap is only $201 million with its stock on the NASDAQ having lost almost half of its value since the start of the year.
In a statement, Caesarstone explained the layoffs as resulting from the global financial crisis.
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“As a company that is exposed to the conditions of the global market and its fluctuations, we are required to adjust the scale of our activities in order to deal with a slowdown/recession and a decrease in demand for kitchen work surfaces by private consumers and in commercial projects around the world,” Caesarstone said. “As we announced recently, the company has begun implementing streamlining procedures that include a series of measures. One of these measures is a reduction of about 10% in our workforce worldwide, a small part of them in Israel, and the main part in the company’s plants around the world. In addition, we are also making operational efficiency moves, price increases, focusing on growth engines, and more. “We stress that Caesarstone is a strong global brand with high consumer and business partner loyalty, something that will help better deal with the consequences of this period.”
As for Brodmann17, two of the company’s employees filed a motion in Tel Aviv District Court to begin insolvency proceedings against the company after they were told that they would not be paid.
According to a report in Calcalist, the filing says that when asked to be paid they were told by Broadman17 reps, “Our client doesn’t have the ability to pay its entire debts. Due to the circumstances, we advised the company to stop all payments to creditors, suppliers, and employees until someone is appointed to oversee the matter, in order to prevent preferential treatment or any other claims.”
Founded in 2016 by CEO Adi Pinhas, Amir Alush, and Assaf Mushinsky, Brodmann17 developed AI that the company thought would revolutionize safety in mobility. The company boasted that its computer-vision-centered technology saves 95% of computing power.
