Price pressure in the car business burdened Suppliers: Schaeffler cuts 950 jobs

08/05/2018

Price pressure in the car business burdened Suppliers Schaeffler cuts 950 jobs

DPA

Schaeffler Group headquarters in Herzogenaurach

The automotive and industrial supplier Schaeffler wants to reduce 950 jobs worldwide. About 450 of them were in Germany, said the group on Monday in Herzogenaurach. The jobs should be eliminated in the next three years as part of the group restructuring – which nonetheless not so radical fails as with the investment Continental.

“Operational layoffs and plant closures are not planned,” said Schaeffler CEO Klaus Rosenfeld the German Press Agency. The reduction would be made socially acceptable – through natural attrition, partial retirement, termination agreements or placement on other items. Which locations are affected until 2021, remained initially open.

The step should save up to 60 million euros. This was offset by one-off restructuring costs of € 50 million, the statement said.

The reorientation was the first measure in the framework of the future agreement recently signed with the works council and the union IG Metall. “This is not about a tough restructuring step, but about the further development of the organizational structure,” stressed Rosenfeld.

Falling prices in the automotive supply business

Above all, the goal is to bring the plants closer to the business, to reduce double structures and to increase internal efficiency. “The project announced today is an important step in furthering the transformation of the Schaeffler Group.” Schaeffler employs around 91,000 people worldwide.

At the beginning of the year, the Group has the strong euro and the Price pressure in the car business get to feel. Revenues fell 0.6% to € 3.55 billion in the first quarter due to currency effects, the MDax-listed company announced on Tuesday. Excluding currency effects, revenue would have climbed by a total of 3.9 percent, thanks to higher volumes in the auto and industrial supplies sectors.

In the auto supplies division, the operating result declined due to lower sales prices, currency effects and higher upfront payments for electric mobility, which also had a negative impact on the Group level. Total earnings before interest and taxes fell by a good 10 percent to 391 million euros. On balance, net income was down 14 per cent to 240 million euros. However, the group forecasts confirmed the management, and the results were also roughly as expected on the market.

The main owners Georg and Maria-Elisabeth Schaeffler ranked third in the current manager magazine ranking of the richest Germans.

ak / dpa-AFX

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