And now Mahle too. What Continental, Schaeffler and many other suppliers The Stuttgart-based auto supplier now also wants to pull through: He wants to tighten its austerity program. The bottom line is that the company wants to cut 7,600 jobs worldwide, around 2,000 of them in Germany. “We are dealing with a crisis that we have never experienced before,” says Mahle boss Jörg Stratmann. Right now it is important to consistently continue efforts to cut costs. The group explains: The Corona pandemic is not the cause of the measures now announced, but of course they have an accelerating effect.
But what is behind the phrase used by the corporate management? Obviously, the Mahle management assumes that the dependency on the combustion engine is still too great for all employees to continue to be employed. For years, the employee representatives and IG Metall have been calling for faster technological change in order to create future prospects instead of relying on reduction and relocation programs. But the management has so far ignored all reminders and, on the other hand, is getting their unimaginative concepts out of the moth box instead of initiating a strategic further development of the company and thus offering the employees good prospects.
The company has been following a strict austerity policy since 2018 and has cut 6,700 jobs worldwide as a result. Mahle currently has 72,000 employees worldwide, including 12,000 in Germany. And now every sixth job in Germany is to disappear. Where the future lies, these answers have so far been owed on the employer’s side.
Mahle management has not done its homework
From the employee’s point of view, Mahle’s decision is all the more incomprehensible if one takes a look at the future and job security that was negotiated in 2016. Because there it was explicitly stated in writing that future concepts were to be developed for all German locations within the term. The management did not fulfill this mandate in any way. On the contrary, in 2019 the site in Öhringen was closed and relocated to so-called “low-cost countries”. In the same year, a further downsizing in the Stuttgart headquarters was announced. At least 350 employees should leave the company on a voluntary basis. Secure future prospects look different.
Dieter Kiesling, deputy GBR chairman and member of the supervisory board, therefore sees the blame for the misery not only in the lack of sales due to the Corona crisis and the growing pressure to cut costs. In his opinion, the time has simply been wasted in the past few years. Because the transformation of the entire automotive industry has been going on for quite a while and Mahle has not yet presented any prospects for the “combustion locations”. On behalf of all employees, Kiesling expects the management to finally take responsibility and lead all employees safely through the crisis. In addition: As a foundation company, Mahle has a special social responsibility that must not be forgotten, especially in difficult times.
“We want transition, not decline”
No sooner had the terrible news leaked through at Mahle than the MahleTrust body on Wednesday a spontaneous action in front of the windows of the board meeting. With a human chain they made it clear that they did not believe in the announced austerity program. During the protest, Martin Röll, second authorized representative of IG Metall (IGM) Stuttgart, made it clear that IG Metall would not accept that the Mahle management convert the decline in sales figures into job cuts. Everyone is aware of the controversy surrounding CO2 reduction and the ban on combustion engines – but: “We don’t want a decline, but a transition to e-mobility,” said Röll.
Support also comes from Uwe Meinhardt, deputy chairman of the supervisory board and head of fundamental issues at IG Metall. He emphasizes: “IG Metall does not accept any redundancies or site closings. Our collective agreements have enough instruments to get through the crisis without layoffs. This applies to Mahle as well as to all other companies in the German automotive industry. “