The German steel and industry group Thyssenkrupp is scrapping a total of 11,000 jobs to improve performance in the midst of the crisis. In doing so, the company cuts its workforce much deeper than before the outbreak of the pandemic was the plan. The additional intervention follows a loss of billions in the last broken accounting year of Thyssenkrupp.
The COVID-19 crisis led to a much lower demand for steel and equipment from the car industry, says Thyssenkrupp. If the proceeds from a recent sale of the lift division are not taken into account, the group suffered an operational loss of EUR 1.6 billion. Due to heavy depreciation of its steel and auto parts divisions, the net loss amounted to 5.5 billion euros.
Thyssenkrupp was already struggling with a weak steel market before the worldwide outbreak of the virus. This is why the company announced in spring 2019 that it would cut 6000 jobs. The recent negative figures mean that a further 5000 jobs are to be lost, with redundancies not excluded. Of the total of 11,000 jobs, 3,600 jobs have already been lost.
“The pandemic is a massive stress test for Thyssenkrupp,” said topwoman Martina Merz. “Despite the headwinds, we have reached important milestones. But the next steps will be more painful than the last.”
