With these measures, Schaeffler is responding to the crisis in the European automotive industry. The company specifically cites declining market demand and intensifying competition due to weakened sales of internal combustion engine vehicles and a delayed ramp-up of electromobility. Schaeffler also highlights above-average labour costs per employee in Germany, as well as the high complexity of its organisation, which has too many management levels and insufficient spans of control.

In concrete terms: Schaeffler is not yet profitable in e-mobility. In fact, the corresponding division reported a negative EBIT margin of 14.8 per cent for the first nine months of the year, with losses under the EBIT method amounting to €571 million in this segment (DE). In the electric vehicle segment, Schaeffler attributes its struggles to the decline of European automakers in the Chinese market. Nevertheless, the company remains highly committed to electromobility, as demonstrated in our video report from the Schaeffler Automotive Symposium in Bühl (DE) this summer.

Regarding planned job cuts: around 50 per cent will affect production, 30 per cent will impact research and development, and 20 per cent will involve other functional areas. A total of 16 sites across Europe will be affected. Five sites, four of which are in Germany, are set to close in the long term.

Closure of sites including Berlin and Dortmund

These include the Dortmund plant, which currently employs 430 people, and the Morbach site with 160 employees, both part of the Powertrain & Chassis division and producing components for internal combustion engines. Additionally, Schaeffler plans to discontinue operations at its Berlin site, which employs around 270 people, and to close the Schwalbach location. A significant portion of the approximately 385 employees in Schwalbach are expected to transfer to Schaeffler’s Frankfurt site. Overall, around 190 jobs will be affected by these cuts.

Furthermore, Schaeffler intends to cease toolmaking activities at its Höchstadt site and make adjustments in special machinery manufacturing at its Erlangen and Schweinfurt locations. Additional job cuts are planned at German sites such as Herzogenaurach, Bühl, Höchstadt, Nuremberg, and Regensburg.

The planned reduction of 2,660 jobs in Germany represents a cut of around nine per cent of the current workforce of just under 32,000 in the country. However, when including job cuts from earlier austerity programmes and the 1,800 early retirement agreements already signed, the percentage increases to around 18 per cent.

Reducing organisational complexity

At the same time, Schaeffler aims to restructure its management: At least two of the current seven hierarchical levels below the executive board are to be eliminated, as reported by Handelsblatt. While Schaeffler does not specify an exact number, its press release states the goal of “reducing the complexity of the organisation”. Earlier this spring, the supervisory board had already decided to reduce the executive board itself to eight members by merging the responsibilities of research and development with production, supply chain management, and procurement.

In addition to advancing its core business as an automotive supplier, Schaeffler sees promising growth opportunities in future fields, particularly in humanoid robotics and defence. “Here, we can draw on technological expertise developed in our core business,” says Jochen Schröder, Board Member for Production.