The restructuring events database contains factsheets with data on large-scale restructuring events reported in the principal national media and company websites in each EU Member State. This database was created in 2002.
Retail Wholesale Trade, Except Of Motor Vehicles And Motorcycles Wholesale On A Fee Or Contract Basis 46.16 - Agents involved in the sale of textiles, clothing, fur, footwear and leather goods
3,750 - 4,750 jobs Number of planned job losses
Announcement Date
18 June 2020
Employment effect (start)
18 June 2020
Foreseen end date
Description
As announced on 18 June 2020, the German department store chain Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof, will close 62 out of its 172 department stores, causing approximately 5,000 to 6,000 job cuts as part of the restructuring programme negotiated between management, works council and trade unions. Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof has been hit hard by the COVID-19 crisis and is expecting a loss of sales of approximately €1.4 billion until 2022, making a restructuring programme necessary, for the company to survive. Cuts will also include 150 employees at headquarters in Cologne and 25 travel agencies as well as the closure of 20 of the 30 Karstadt Sports stores. All affected employees will have access to a social plan and a transfer company, while the remaining employees will have guaranteed employment until 2024.
Currently, Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof has approximately 28,000 employees.
Update 17 July 2020: As announced on 17 July 2020, Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof has will close only 50 department stores. In last minute negotiations with landlords, Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof was able to avoid the closure of 12 stores and save approximately 1,250 jobs - reducing the number of cuts to between 3,750 and 4,750.
Stores in Dortmund, Goslar, Nürnberg/Lorenzkirche, Potsdam, Chemnitz, Leverkusen, Berlin-Lichtenberg, Bielefeld, Alstertal/Hamburg, Leonberg, Nürnberg/Langwasser and Singen will remain open.
Digitisation and automation technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), can affect working conditions in a variety of ways and their use in the workplace raises a host of new ethical concerns.
The retail banking sector is fertile ground for studying the impacts of digitalisation on work and employment. Financial services are increasingly provided online, without the intermediary of customer-facing institutions.
European labour markets have recovered strongly from COVID-19. By the end of 2021, little more than 18 months after the start of the pandemic, employment rates in the EU were almost at pre-crisis levels.
