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GERMANY-AUTOMOBILE-MANUFACTURING-LAYOFFS
Continental to slash 5,500 jobs in savings drive
FRANKFURT AM MAIN, Nov 21, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Continental confirmed
Wednesday it would slash 5,500 jobs by 2028, as the German car parts giant
seeks massive savings to confront a stuttering global economy and weaker
demand for combustion engines.
The jobs cull affecting Germany, Italy and the US would support
Continental’s “urgently needed technological transition and thus the
strengthening of our competitiveness and future viability”, CEO Elmar
Degenhart said.
The company has set itself the goal of saving 500 million euros ($552
million) annually from 2023.
The drive comes as Germany’s mighty car industry — employing 800,000
people — is battered by global trade conflicts, stricter emissions limits
and a costly switch to electric and autonomous vehicles.
In its statement, Continental said it would close plants in Roding,
Germany and Newport News, Virginia by 2024 as it stops making hydraulic
components for petrol and diesel engines.
Around 520 jobs will be lost in Roding, and 720 in Virgina.
By 2025, Continental will axe 1,800 posts at its German plant in
Babenhausen.
By 2028, 750 more jobs will go in Pisa, Italy and 850 in Limbach-
Oberfrohna, Germany due to the discontinued hydraulic components
manufacturing.
The latest round of job cuts come on top of a cull announced in September
that will see Continental scrap 650 jobs in North Carolina and 270 in
Malaysia.
Continental, with a global workforce of 240,000 people, stressed in its
statement that some employees would be offered a chance to retrain “for other
tasks” to find alternative roles in the group.
Last month, the group reported a net loss of 1.99 billion euros for the
third quarter of 2019, and forecast a full-year loss as well.
BSS/AFP/HR/1055