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.
(10 - 33) Manufacturing (24 - 25) Manufacture of metals 25 - Manufacture of fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment 25 - Manufacture of fabricated metal products, except machinery and equipment
260 jobs Number of planned job losses
Announcement Date
6 November 2024
Employment effect (start)
6 November 2024
Foreseen end date
Description
Belgian company specializing in materials technology and battery recycling Umicore has announced that it will cut 260 jobs globally.
The programme will affect positions in Belgium, China and Denmark. In Belgium, about 100 positions are expected to be cut UMICORE-2024-BE. The layoffs will primarily affect R&D roles at the Olen facility and some corporate functions in Brussels. The employees involved will mainly be white-collar workers as well as professional and managerial staff. Additional reductions are planned in China and Denmark, with R&D activities for heavy-duty diesel applications being moved to Hanau, Germany.
The decision follows reduced demand for battery materials, due to the transition to electric vehicles, and is expected to save €40 million annually by 2025.
Globally, Umicore employs around 12,000 people, including 3,500 in Belgium.
Eurofound (2024), Umicore, Internal restructuring in World, factsheet number 201980, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://dev.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/201980.
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...