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.
Wholesale / Retail 47 - Retail trade 47.7 - Retail sale of other goods, except motor vehicles and motorcycles 47.71 - Retail sale of clothing
250 jobs Number of planned job losses
Announcement Date
28 January 2026
Employment effect (start)
28 January 2026
Foreseen end date
31 January 2026
Description
Wormland, a German menswear retailer, is dismissing 250 employees. At the end of January 2026 the company announced that all eight stores would close as a consequence of an insolvency procedure. The branches in Oberhausen and Hanover will only remain open until the remaining stock is sold.
The job cuts are a consequence of the insolvency proceedings initiated in November 2025, following the company’s acquisition by Lengermann & Trieschmann (L&T) after an earlier insolvency in August 2024. The reasons for the insolvency include very high rents in premium inner‑city locations, rising personnel, energy, and logistics costs, as well as strong competition from online retailers and declining customer numbers in brick-and-mortar stores. Ultimately, no investor could be found due to the high rents in inner‑city locations and
The 250 positions are expected to be eliminated through dismissals.
Wormland was founded in 1935 in Hanover by Theo Wormland. Since 2019, the company’s shares have been held by a management-led investment group.
Eurofound (2026), Wormland, Bankruptcy in Germany, factsheet number 204121, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/204121.
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.
