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.
Hungarian firm Ferromark-Halna laid off its 100 employees, effective immediately. Ferromark-Halna was a subcontractor of Liberty Dunaújváros, (formerly known as ISD Dunaferr). Per the terms of the contract, Ferromark-Halna employees permanently worked at the Dunaferr steel plant, from October 2014 until now. Now, Liberty Dunaújváros terminated the contract, and Ferromark-Halna was unable to give its employees any other job.
Despite the contract stipulated that in case of termination consultations should take place with a view to ensuring the continuation of operations and the continued employment of workers, Liberty Dunaújváros said they could not conduct such consultations.
In October, the British-Indian conglomerate Liberty Steel acquired the Dunaferr plant with the generous financial and regulatory support of the government. The government tailwind was justified by arguing that the takeover would save the loss-making Dunaferr plant from liquidation and prevent the mass layoff of its employees. While no workers formally employed by Liberty Dunaújváros are impacted by this layoff, the affected Ferromark-Halna workers effectively operated as Dunaferr employees as well.
Several hundred other workers -– who work at the same plant under similar terms as employees of other subcontractor firms – may face layoffs soon, according to observers.
Eurofound (2023), Ferromark-Halna, Internal restructuring in Hungary, factsheet number 200591, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://dev.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/200591.
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...
