2024-09-28 14:40:24
Further job cuts in the automotive industry: Schaeffler will probably cut some jobs after its merger with Vitesco.
After the automotive supplier ZF, the Franconian automotive and industrial supplier Schaeffler has now also discussed significant job cuts. As a result of the upcoming merger with the electric drive specialist Vitesco, certain personnel positions could become unnecessary, said Schaeffler CEO Klaus Rosenfeld to “Wirtschaftswoche” (Friday edition). “We don’t need two headquarters. We also have double staff in certain functions. So we will also have to cut selected positions,” Rosenfeld told the newspaper.
However, this will not reach the dimensions that ZF announced. The supplier from Friedrichshafen had announced that it would cut 14,000 jobs. Neither Rosenfeld nor a company spokesman initially provided more detailed information when asked by the German Press Agency. Schaeffler had previously stated that the merger with Vitesco should bring about savings of around 600 million euros annually, although most of this would not be in personnel. Together, the two companies have around 120,000 employees.
However, Rosenfeld explained in the interview with “Wirtschaftswoche” that further cuts were possible beyond the savings resulting from the merger with Vitesco. “This also has to do with the fact that we are still examining what results from the current market environment – regardless of the actual merger,” said Rosenfeld.
Rosenfeld expects strong growth in the merged company’s electromobility business and emphasized that the transformation to e-mobility “remains correct.” There is no sign that car manufacturers are turning away from electric cars: “I can’t see that our customers will develop completely new generations of combustion engines.”
Rosenfeld expects lower profits in the industrial business. “In China, we have long made a lot of money with bearings for wind turbines,” said the Schaeffler boss. But the market is currently changing. The fact that competition is becoming tougher does not mean that Schaeffler will withdraw from China. But you have to make do with lower margins.