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.
Rheinland-Pfalz; Rheinhessen-Pfalz; Pirmasens, Kreisfreie Stadt
Location of affected unit(s)
Pirmasens
Sector
(10 - 33) Manufacturing (29 - 30) Manufacture for transport equipment 29.3 - Manufacture of motor vehicle parts and accessories 29.32 - Manufacture of other parts and accessories for motor vehicles
132 jobs Number of planned job losses
Announcement Date
21 March 2025
Employment effect (start)
Foreseen end date
31 December 2026
Description
FWB Kunststofftechnik, a German automotive supplier in the plastics industry based in Pirmasens (Rhineland-Palatinate) and part of the HELLA Group, will be closed by the end of 2026, resulting in the loss of approximately 132 production jobs. The closure is due to the ongoing crisis in the automotive industry and significantly increased energy and raw material costs.
Production is scheduled to cease by mid-2026, with staff reductions taking place gradually; 50 jobs were already cut in 2024.
Redundancies and support in finding new employment are planned; compulsory layoffs in 2025 cannot be ruled out. Details of negotiations with social partners are not yet available.
FWB was founded in 1980 and has been part of HELLA since 2020.
Eurofound (2025), FWB Kunstrofftechnik, Bankruptcy in Germany, factsheet number 202604, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://dev.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/202604.
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...