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.
As announced on 20 November 2024, US car manufacturer Ford plans to cut 4,000 jobs in Europe, with 2,900 of them in Germany. In Germany, the majority of the layoffs are expected at the Cologne site, where Ford employs 11,500 people. However, the Saarlouis and Aachen locations could also be affected. The company attributes the job cuts to the high costs of transitioning to electric vehicles, weak demand in the passenger car segment, and increasing competition.
Cologne serves as Ford's European headquarters and is where two electric vehicle models are produced. In 2023 and 2024, Ford invested €2 billion in the Cologne site to enable electric vehicle production, but expectations were not met.
The works council has announced resistance to the plans, vowing to resist the job cuts. Local authorities, including North Rhine-Westphalia’s minister-president, have also expressed concerns, emphasising the need for political support to help the industry cope with the transformation.
Ford employs approximately 16,500 people in Germany overall.
This restructuring event is a part of a global restructuring programme. The global restructuring event has been recorded in the ERM events database Ford 2024 - WO
Updated, 28/11/25: As announced on 28 November 2025, Ford is starting the announced job cuts in Cologne. It has also now been confirmed that a total of 3,700 positions will be eliminated, 800 more than announced in 2024. Severance programmes for these positions have now started, and employees have three months to decide whether to leave voluntarily.
Eurofound (2024), Ford, Internal restructuring in Germany, factsheet number 201997, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/201997.
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