German Companies Plan 100,000 Job Cuts as 60% Shift Hiring Abroad
Updated
Updated · Eurasia Daily · Jun 29
German Companies Plan 100,000 Job Cuts as 60% Shift Hiring Abroad
3 articles · Updated · Eurasia Daily · Jun 29
Summary
Up to 100,000 industrial jobs could disappear in Germany this year, with automotive, machinery and construction companies facing the heaviest cuts.
A Horvath-Handelsblatt survey of 1,000 companies found 60% plan to reduce staff in Germany, while only 16% expect to add workers there.
Labor costs 22% above the EU average, along with high energy prices, taxes, weak demand and bureaucracy, are driving companies to invest and hire in India, China, North America, the Middle East and Africa.
EY data show German industry employed 2.3% fewer people by end-March than a year earlier — down about 127,300 jobs — bringing losses since 2019 to 341,500, or roughly one in 17 industrial jobs.
Even with companies expecting about 4% revenue growth, businesses are leaning toward automation and AI rather than domestic hiring, underscoring pressure on Germany's export-led industrial model.