German auto supplier giant Robert Bosch has become the latest company in the country to come under the strain of Germany’s economic downturn, announcing that hundreds of workers will be cut the equivalent of a four-day week.
The 92 billion euro industrial conglomerate Bosch said 450 of its employees would cut their hours and pay as a result from next spring, a company spokesman said. luck. Affected employees will see their weekly hours reduced from 38 to 40 hours to 35 hours as of March 1.
The spokesman cited the “difficult economic situation” as the reason for the decision to reduce working hours for some employees, especially in Stuttgart and Gerlingen.
Bosch has been caught up in the maelstrom facing European automakers, due to declining demand in Europe and abroad, in addition to unprecedented pressure from Chinese competitors.
Bosch is Europe’s 24th largest company by revenue, active in consumer products, mobility and industrial technology. However, it derives more than half of its revenue from the automotive supply business, producing things like brakes and spark plugs.
In October, the group said it planned to lay off 7,000 workers as chairman Stefan Hartung announced the company would not meet its financial targets for 2024. Hartung refused to rule out further reductions in personnel problems.
German auto giant Volkswagen is in a long-running battle with its powerful works council to cut its administrative costs as part of a wider drive to cut 10 billion euros in costs.
The automaker has he proposed a 10% salary cut for workers and has not ruled out the possibility of closing the first factory in Germany. Volkswagen’s profits fell to a three-year low in the first half of 2024.
Other European car companies have experimented with reducing the working hours of their workers to keep the lights on. In February, Fiat, which owns Stellantis reduce the working hours of employees At the plant in Turin, from a double shift to a single shift, while transferring other workers.
The terrible economic context It gives an indication of the challenges facing its biggest companies in Germany.
The country is expecting a second consecutive year of negative economic growth as its manufacturing sector languishes in more than two years of recession. The country has faced a general crisis of high energy prices due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and falling foreign demand, which has affected the export-heavy economy.
