11,000 jobs on the line as another German company stumbles

Thyssenkrupp Steel has announced plans to eliminate 11,000 jobs by the end of this decade — about 40% of its workforce — becoming the latest German industrial giant to opt for drastic action to prop up its fortunes.

Thyssenkrupp Steel has announced plans to eliminate 11,000 jobs by the end of this decade — about 40% of its workforce — becoming the latest German industrial giant to opt for drastic action to prop up its fortunes. The company said Monday that it is aiming to cut around 5,000 roles by 2030, through reducing production and streamlining administration. A further 6,000 jobs will be transferred to external service providers or shed through the sale of business units. “Increasingly, (global) overcapacity and the resulting rise in cheap imports, particularly from Asia, are placing a considerable strain on competitiveness,” Thyssenkrupp Steel said in a statement. “In addition, urgent measures are needed to improve Thyssenkrupp Steel’s own productivity and operating efficiency, and to achieve a competitive cost level.” The news is the latest blow to Europe’s biggest economy, where storied manufacturers face a perfect storm of competition from Chinese rivals, traditional disadvantages such as steep labor costs and high taxes, and energy costs driven higher by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Germany’s economy shrank last year for the first time since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. And it is set to contract again this year, according to forecasts from the European Union’s executive body, the European Commission, earlier this month. Thyssenkrupp, Germany’s largest steel producer, joins the country’s biggest manufacturer Volkswagen in setting out a major overhaul to cut costs and bolster competitiveness.