Schaeffler AG has announced a further performance improvement program that will reduce its European workforce by a net total of 3,460 positions, with approximately 2,660 cuts in Germany, and close five sites across the region, four of them in Germany. The decision, disclosed via NEWMEDIAWIRE, follows the completion of restructuring measures announced in November 2024 and the conclusion of 1,800 partial retirement agreements in early October.
The program responds to a persistently challenging automotive environment characterized by weakened demand for internal combustion engine vehicles, a delayed ramp-up of electric mobility, and intensifying competition. Added to these pressures are above-average costs per employee in Germany and organizational complexity, including too many management levels and limited delegation of leadership responsibilities.
The cuts will affect 16 locations in Europe. Approximately 50 percent of the affected positions are in production, 30 percent in research and development, and 20 percent in other functional areas. Planned closures include the Dortmund plant, which currently employs 430 people, and the Morbach site with 160 employees; both belong to the Powertrain & Chassis division and manufacture products for internal combustion engines. Operations at the Berlin site, which employs about 270 people, are also set to be discontinued, while the Schwalbach site will close, with a large portion of its approximately 385 employees expected to transfer to the Schaeffler site in Frankfurt. Toolmaking operations at Höchstadt will be discontinued, and adjustments will be made to special machinery manufacturing at Erlangen and Schweinfurt, alongside capacity and structural changes at Herzogenaurach, Bühl, Nürnberg, and Regensburg. Outside Germany, adjustments are planned in Haguenau and Toulouse in France, Skalica and Kysuce in Slovakia, and the Herstal production site in Belgium, which employs approximately 15 people.
The planned reduction of 2,660 positions in Germany represents roughly eight percent of the core workforce of 31,957 employees as of September 30, 2026, by 2028. When including job reductions from legacy programs and the 1,800 partial-retirement agreements already signed, the percentage rises to approximately 18 percent. A solidarity contribution across all hierarchical levels, starting with the Board of Managing Directors, will include a temporary, voluntary compensation reduction still to be worked out in detail. The company expects this contribution to lower costs per employee, reduce the necessary job cuts, and provide immediate relief to the income statement in 2027 and 2028. Without it, the job cuts would have been more extensive.
CEO Klaus Rosenfeld said the program demonstrates that developing and manufacturing in Germany and Europe competitively over the long term is both possible and sensible, requiring consolidated locations, bundled technological expertise in selected regional clusters, and optimized costs per employee. The program is expected to generate savings of approximately 300 million euros per year by 2030, with one-time expenses of approximately 480 million euros, the majority to be recognized as restructuring provisions in 2026. Implementation is primarily scheduled for 2027 and 2028 and will be carried out in close dialogue with employee representatives and works councils, based on the Future Accord concluded in 2018.
Schaeffler will continue implementing its Motion Technology Company strategy, viewing cross-sector diversification as an opportunity. Dr. Jochen Schröder, Chief Operating Officer, noted promising growth opportunities in humanoid robotics and defense, where the company can draw on technological expertise developed in its core business. The full release is available on www.newmediawire.com.
