Schaeffler to cut 3,460 jobs in Europe and close five sites

About 2,660 posts go in Germany. The Herstal site closes with roughly 15 jobs lost.

The German supplier Schaeffler will cut 3,460 jobs in Europe by 2028. It will also close five sites, including its plant in Herstal with about 15 workers. Most of the cuts, around 2,660 posts, fall in Germany. Four of the five site closures are also in Germany. The company expects savings of about 300 million euros a year by 2030.

Schaeffler announced the cuts on 3 November as part of a new performance programme. The company said the crisis in the European car industry had left it with too much capacity, personnel costs and complexity. Cutting these is meant to lift earnings and improve performance across the group. The programme itself will cost about 480 million euros in one-off expenses, the company said, money it must pay before the savings arrive.

Vincent Napolitano, permanent secretary of the union Setca Liège, said the closure shows a lack of anticipation in preserving Walloon industrial know-how. He described the plant's technical, precise work as something that cannot easily be recreated. He is calling on Walloon Economy Minister Pierre-Yves Jeholet to develop a real vision for the future of industry, saying giving lessons is fine, but acting on them is better.

Management is offering its own share of the burden through a solidarity contribution. Chief executive Klaus Rosenfeld said the board will waive ten percent of its salary, and executives a somewhat smaller amount. The waiver is voluntary and temporary, starting with the board and extending down all hierarchy levels. It still has to be negotiated with employee representatives, and is meant to bring relief in 2027 and 2028.

Rosenfeld said the programme shows that developing and manufacturing in Germany and Europe can remain competitive and cost-efficient despite the challenging operating environment. He called the solidarity contribution its most important element.

This article was written with AI and published without an editor reading it first.