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.
On 17 February 2016, Canadian manufacturer of aircrafts and trains, Bombardier, announced plans to cut approximately 7,000 jobs worldwide by 2017. A total of 1,430 cuts will affect German sites. In Germany, Bombardier develops and constructs trains, streetcars and locomotives. The head office of the railway business is located in Berlin. The affected plants are mainly located in Henningsdorf, Görlitz and Bautzen. Further cuts will take place in Braunschweig, Kassel, Mannheim and Siegen.
Approximately half of the affected employees are temporary agency workers. The job reduction will mainly affect the production. Job cuts are due to internal restructuring as the company wants to become more competitive, save costs and has been suffering from a drop in orders. Negotiations with the works council are still in its early stages.
The company fears the competition in Far East, particularly in aircraft construction with this business area having reported a significant decline in sales. Moreover, Bombardier is currently relocating their production to the Czech Republic and Poland.
Bombardier, headquartered in Montreal, currently employs about 10,000 staff in Germany and more than 70,000 employees worldwide.
UPDATED 29/06/2017: On 29 June 2017, Bombardier announced the latest figures regarding job cuts in Germany. A total of 2,200 jobs will disappear from German sites, which is roughly one fourth of Bombardier's total 8,500-headed workforce in Germany. Among the affected members of staff are 700 temporary agency workers. Currently, Bombardier's management and the works' council are negotiating a social plan. The supervisory board expects the management to rule out compulsory redundancies until 2019. Of all affected sites, Görlitz and Henningsdorf will see the largest number of job losses. Bombardier announced that all German sites will remain open.
The reductions are part of Bombardier's global restructuring programme, which also includes investments of €70 million. The sites in Bautzen, Henningsdorf, Kassel, Mannheim and Siegen will become competence centres with global strategic importance.
Eurofound (2016), Bombardier, Internal restructuring in Germany, factsheet number 86521, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://dev.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/86521.
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