Dimensions still unclear
Schaeffler announces significant job cuts
September 26, 2024, 8:04 p.m
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The Franconian automotive supplier Schaeffler will cut jobs. According to CEO Klaus Rosenfeld, it is still unclear how many there will be. The merger with electric drive specialist Vitesco is one reason – but not the only one.
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, Schaeffler CEO Klaus Rosenfeld told “Wirtschaftswoche”. “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 take on the dimensions that ZF had 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.
Job cuts not only due to the merger with Vitesco
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.