Restructuring events
European Restructuring Monitor (ERM)
The restructuring events database contains factsheets with data on large-scale restructuring events reported in the principal national media and company websites in each EU Member State. This database was created in 2002.
German automotive company MAN announced that it will cut up to 9,500 jobs (25% of its workforce) worldwide. Two sites in Germany (in Plauen and Wittlich) and one site in Austria (in Steyr) may be closed. Negotiations with the employee representatives are to be started soon.
The company will implement a cost-saving and restructuring programme due to the COVID-19 crisis. As other automotive companies, MAN has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and a drop in demand for automotive products and services on international markets. The programme aims to generate €1.8 billion of savings and achieve an operating return on sales of 8% in 2023.
MAN, based in Munich, Germany, specialised in the production of trucks and buses as well as diesel engines. MAN is majority owned by Traton SE.
Updated, 26/01/2021:
After the negotiations with employees' representatives, the company announced that it will cut 3,500 jobs in Germany until 2023. About 1,900 jobs at the site in Austria (in Steyr) are still at risk as MAN plans to close the factory. The plan to reduce the workforce was justified by the board of directors of the company as necessary to invest in alternative drives and digitisation with the money saved. The chairman of the works council in the Wittlich site stated that jobs have been saved thanks to an agreement addressing 'a realignment of the development and production network with a strong focus on future technologies', particularly electric and hydrogen engines, in order to comply with the EU climate regulations.
Updated, 01/10/2021:
After lenghty negotiations, the MAN production plant for trucks in Steyr (Austria) was finally taken over by Investor Siegfried Wolf. The closure announcement has caused massive protests by the worker's council and hard negotions, that have prevented job cuts. Of the 1,900 employees, 75 percent agreed on wage cuts (up to 15 percent of the net wages) and accepted the new work contracts. The remaining 25 percent have opted for a partial retirement, a severance indemnity or a transfer to the labour foundation that acts as a placement service.
Eurofound (2020), MAN, Internal restructuring in European Union, factsheet number 102028, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://dev.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/102028.
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