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.
SEAT, the Spanish car manufacturer belonging to the Volkswagen Group, has confirmed a labour surplus of up to 1,800 workers at its Barcelona facilities until 2026. Up to date (March 2022), it is unknown when the job losses will be implemented. It is expected that up to 67% of the job redundancies will relate to staff linked to production activities, whereas the remaining 33% will relate to other enterprise units.
The job reduction is explained by two interlinked reasons: On the one hand, the manufacturing of an electrical vehicle already announced for 2025 (resulting in an expected reduced workload per vehicle) and, on the other hand, the associated reduction in the volume of gearboxes produced at SEAT Components. This case of restructuring is linked to the transition to carbon neutral economy.
In addition to the direct foreseen job losses of 1,800 jobs, SEAT foresees additional job loss of 1000 indirect jobs.
Updated 06/05/2022: The management of SEAT car manufacturer has presented to workers' representatives a plan to early retire 1,130 employees (out of a workforce of approximately 15,000 people in Catalonia), due to the surplus of workers that the company will have with the arrival of the electric vehicle. The measure has been well received by the Trade Unions. The proposal, which will be voluntary, would affect direct employees from the age of 61 and indirect employees from the age of 62, where Unions want to negotiate this latter element. The proposal, which has been presented by the company in the framework of the negotiations of the new collective agreement for the period 2022/2026, includes not only workers in the production area, but also in other areas of SEAT
Updated 16/05/2022: The management of SEAT car manufacturer has proposed to Union representatives within the framework of the negotiations for the company's new collective bargaining agreement that all employees over 61 years old may voluntarily join the company's early retirement plan, including office workers (indirect workers). With the new proposal, 200 more employees (indirect workers) will be able to join the voluntary early retirement programme, up to a total of 1,330 workers (out of a total workforce of 15,000 people in Catalonia). SEAT's final aim is to reduce its workforce with this type of voluntary measures, in order to cope with the workload reduction foreseen from the arrival of the electric car at SEAT's facilities in 2025 (expected).
Updated 08/06/2022: The management of Seat has reached a preliminary agreement with the trade unions to adapt the company's workforce to the reduced workload that the future production of electric vehicles at the Martorell plant (in Catalonia) will entail. Seat and the unions have already drawn up a roadmap, and the new collective agreement (that will absorb the surplus workforce derived from the production of electric vehicles) will be signed before the summer holidays. It has been agreed that 1,330 people will leave through early retirement (see previous updates). Also, SEAT and employee representatives have agreed that the Seat Components Plant located in El Prat de Llobregat (Barcelona) will not be closed and half of the current workforce (approximately 1,000 persons) will keep their jobs due to a reorganisation of work. In this way, and adding the possible workforce transfers to the battery plant that the Volkswagen Group will have operational in Sagunto (Valencia) in 2026, the 2,800 surplus workforce to be generated by the arrival of the electric car at Seat Martorell from 2025 onwards would be absorbed in this period.
Eurofound (2022), SEAT, Internal restructuring in Spain, factsheet number 106441, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://dev.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/106441.
This working paper offers a comprehensive methodological overview of the European Restructuring Monitor (ERM) databases. Even though the methodology has not changed over time, new categories have been added, and the way it has been used by researchers and policymakers...
This Eurofound research paper explores key trends in restructuring in recent years, highlighting the companies that announced the largest job losses and job gains in the EU. It builds on an analysis of company announcements recorded in Eurofound’s European Restructuring...
In 2023, thousands of workers in big tech lost their jobs. Meta, Amazon, Google, Apple, Microsoft and Salesforce had been considered to offer good and secure jobs up to this point. Giants of the information and communication technology (ICT) sector,...
In 2024, the automotive sector in the EU came to the fore in public and policy discussions. The focus was on the slowdown in electric vehicle (EV) sales, rising global competition, belated investments in new technologies, and the potential closure...
The more employee monitoring resembles surveillance – with its systematic, continuous and detailed tracking of employees' activities, behaviours or communications – the greater the potential for infringement of both privacy and data protection rights. Although the EU General Data Protection...
Since 2013, Eurofound's ERM database on restructuring-related legislation has been documenting regulatory developments in the Member States of the European Union and Norway which are explicitly or implicitly linked to anticipating and managing change. The most recent update to the...
