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.
Knorr-Bremse, the German global market leader for train and truck brakes (supplier industry), is cutting around 700 jobs in Germany as part of its strategic programme. The locations affected are Munich, Berlin, Wedel, Aldersbach and Dresden; some of the jobs will be relocated to Poland and the Czech Republic. Most of the jobs lost will be in production.
The cuts are being justified by challenging market conditions and high personnel costs in Germany, even though the company is reporting record orders and high profits. The cuts are to be made primarily through partial retirement and termination agreements, although redundancies for operational reasons remain possible.
The IG Metall trade union has sharply criticised the plans and announced protests after the summer break, accusing management of weakening Germany as a business location and breaking promises made to the workforce.
Knorr-Bremse employs around 13,550 people worldwide. In 2019, the closure of the plant in Wülfrath (North Rhine-Westphalia) was announced, resulting in 400 employees losing their jobs Knorr-Bremse SteeringSystems 2019 - DE.
Eurofound (2025), Knorr-Bremse, Internal restructuring in Germany, factsheet number 203182, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://dev.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/203182.
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...
