Restructuring events
European Restructuring Monitor (ERM)
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.
The German automotive supplier Continental, based in Hanover, has announced that it will cut 450 jobs at its site in Gifhorn in Lower Saxony. The reasons behind the job cuts are, according to Continental, the sharply increased cost pressure in the automotive industry, declining automotive markets and the local cost structure, which is high and uncompetitive by international standards.
Parts of the production will be outsource to external supplier by the end of 2025. These measures will affect 450 of the current 900 jobs in Gifhorn. Additionally, air supply systems will be gradually relocated in 2024 and spare parts business will be relocated from 2024.
Since 2005, Continental has already taken numerous measures together with the employee representatives to improve the competitiveness of the location (Continental-2005-DE). Continental has also taken job reduction measures in other locations to adjust to the changing automotive industry (Continental-2022-DE). The measures in Gifhorn are not part of Continental's ongoing structural programme, which was launched in 2019 to enable the company's transformation in the face of structural change in the automotive industry (Continental-2022-DE). Continental generated sales for €39.4 billion in 2022 and currently employs around 200,000 people in 57 countries and markets.
UPDATED, 17/06/2024: It is announced that Rheinmetall, a defence company, has signed with Continental an agreement to take about 100 employees from the Gifhorn site. Employees have the opportunity to apply for the available positions at the Rheinmetall site in Unterlüss, located 55 km away. Rheinmetall, a manufacturer of shells and tank equipment, is experiencing a sharp increase in orders in the context of the war in Ukraine and increased military spending in many EU countries. The company is facing recruitment difficulties due to the aging population and the shortage of skilled workers in Germany.
Eurofound (2023), Continental, Closure in Germany, factsheet number 109298, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/109298.
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