At ZF Friedrichshafen there are tough cuts Germany before. The automotive supplier from Lake Constance announced on Friday that it wanted to create “slimmer structures” in this country. In concrete terms, this means that between 11,000 and 14,000 jobs will be lost at German ZF locations by 2028. The company currently employs around 54,000 people in this country.
ZF boss Holger Klein (54) had so far avoided making any concrete statements about how severe the dismantling would be. However, the number of 12,000 jobs that are in the fire has been in the room for some time. So now things could get even worse.
“Our corporate responsibility is to prepare ZF for the future and to further develop the locations in Germany so that they are sustainably competitive and solidly positioned,” said Klein on Friday. “We are aware that we also have to make difficult but necessary decisions.”
They want to find the “best possible solutions” for everyone involved. ZF hopes to be able to reduce the majority of jobs in a socially acceptable manner, for example through partial retirement arrangements. But that alone won’t be enough. Klein recently said that the employees also need to understand that the situation is “very serious”. in an interview with manager magazine
said. After several takeovers, ZF is indebted to the tune of more than 10 billion euros, and the company suffers from weak returns in its operating business.
The job cuts could also be accompanied by further factory closures in Germany. It has already been decided that the ZF plants in Damme, Gelsenkirchen and Eitorf will end. First, the supplier wants to merge its factories in this country into “larger site networks” and reduce duplicate functions in the factories. If that is not enough, closure is also possible. There are currently around 55 ZF locations in Germany.
Unclear electrical perspective
The Electrified Drive Technologies division will be particularly affected by the cuts. Klein explained that they had made significant advance payments and would continue to invest in electromobility. “The future belongs to electromobility.” However, ZF is focusing more on its currently more profitable pillars: commercial vehicle and industrial technology, the Chassis Solutions division and the aftermarket division.
The passenger car unit, internally called “Division E”, is ZF’s biggest problem child despite its 11.5 billion in sales last year. The supplier does not make any money from its electrical components. Klein therefore called for “openness to cooperation and strong partnerships.”
It is therefore possible that the CEO will further slim down the group by selling parts of Division E. He had already done this elsewhere; for example, Klein sold the axle assembly business for 500 million euros in half to Foxconn. Klein is also looking for a buyer for the airbag and belt division. Alternatively, an IPO is also conceivable
. Where there are no prospects, Klein doesn’t shy away from the toughest measures: working on the autonomous shuttle, long a ZF prestige project, he had it stopped at the end of last year
.
The ZF works council reacted with shock to the announcement on Friday. This “stirs up fears,” said general works council head Achim Dietrich (55). Such measures would not combat the causes of the crisis, “but rather distract from managerial failures”. Dietrich announced “bitter resistance” to the ZF leadership’s course, “we will fight for every job.”