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 (26 - 27) Manufacture of electrical, electronic and optical products 26 - Manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products 26 - Manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products
500 jobs Number of planned job losses
Announcement Date
13 August 2009
Employment effect (start)
Foreseen end date
Description
On 13 August 2009, the manufacturer of solar cells Q-Cells announced to cut 500 out of 2,200 jobs at its location in Thalheim as part of a wide-ranging restructuring plan. Due to low demand and drop in the price for solar components, four out of six production lines will be shut down. Around 2,000 Q-Cells employees are already working a shorter working week under the government-subsidised programme.
At the end of 2008, around 2,300 staff were employed at Q-Cells. The timeline for the implementation of the job losses has not yet been announced by the company.
Sources
14 August 2009: Handelsblatt
Citation
Eurofound (2009), Q-Cells, Internal restructuring in Germany, factsheet number 69395, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://dev.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/69395.
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...