First things first: I'm not here to Pollyanna at you. There's a lot of tough stuff happening in KTM world right now, particularly if you're a Mattighofen-based employee.
I mean, how would you like to suddenly be told that your employer couldn't pay your monthly salary (let alone your expected yearly bonus), right before the holidays? Easy: You wouldn't. No one would. And while some folks love courtroom drama, the KTM insolvency hearings at the Regional Court of Ried im Innkreis mainly aimed to provide insight into what steps KTM's self-administration had taken so far to resolve matters.
Which matters? Oh, those pesky nearly-$3 billion Euros in debt, if you recall. You know. No big deal. Nothing to see here, certainly (she said, wryly). It's a dire situation, for sure. But, in the interest of not leaving you with nothing but a pile of bad news right before the holidays, I was determined to polish up one tiny little gem out of the seemingly endless piles of dross we've found ourselves wading through with orange hip boots lately.
Are you ready to race? Yeah? Here's your slightly good news: KTM might not have to lay off as many of its Mattighofen employees as it originally said it would.
How many employees formerly facing the axe will now get a reprieve? Originally, the plan was to lay off an additional 500 employees in Mattighofen (which is a small town, and one where a huge percentage of the populace is employed by KTM, apparently) at the end of 2024.
Only now, it seems that 200 of those employees will get a reprieve, and the OEM will only have to lay off around 300 employees instead. Math!
Also, remember how KTM wasn't going to be able to pay its employees their December salaries, nor their promised Christmas bonuses? The latest news on this front to come from that court appearance is that employees can expect payment after all. Except, um, not until sometime in January. Wait, no, I take it back. This isn't good news. It's what these employees were owed.
I don't know how things work in Mattighofen since I've never lived there. But in most places, all the people you regularly pay your bills to aren't exactly going to care if you tell them your employer is so sorry, but they can't pay you until next month. Their answer will probably be more akin to Paulie Cicero in Goodfellas. If you've seen the movie, you know the scene, I'm sure.
Yes, I promised you a silver lining, but this teeny piece of crumpled aluminum foil is all I've got. It's still more than KTM apparently has right now, so I'll take that as a positive.
Happy holidays.
