Schaeffler AG has announced a new performance improvement program aimed at eliminating overcapacity, lowering personnel costs, and reducing organizational complexity as the European automotive industry faces weakened demand for internal combustion engine vehicles and a delayed ramp-up of electric mobility. The program will see a net reduction of 3,460 positions in the Europe region, with approximately 2,660 cuts in Germany, and the closure of five sites, four of them in Germany.
The job reductions, which will affect 16 locations across Europe, are split roughly 50 percent in production, 30 percent in research and development, and 20 percent in other functional areas. In Germany, the company plans to close its Dortmund plant, which 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 currently employs about 270 people, are also slated for discontinuation, and the Schwalbach site will close, with many of its approximately 385 employees expected to transfer to the Schaeffler site in Frankfurt. In total, around 190 positions will be affected by that reduction.
Further adjustments include discontinuing toolmaking operations at Höchstadt and adjusting special machinery manufacturing at Erlangen and Schweinfurt. Capacity and structural changes are also planned at other German locations, including Herzogenaurach, Bühl, Höchstadt, Nürnberg, and Regensburg. Outside Germany, production and development capacities will be adjusted in Haguenau and Toulouse in France, and in Skalica and Kysuce in Slovakia, while the Herstal production site in Belgium, with about 15 employees, will close.
The planned reduction of 2,660 positions in Germany represents approximately eight percent of the core workforce of 31,957 employees as of September 30, 2026, to be achieved by 2028. Taking into account job reductions from legacy programs and 1,800 partial-retirement agreements already signed, the percentage rises to approximately 18 percent.
Alongside the job cuts, the program includes a solidarity contribution that will involve, among other measures, a temporary, voluntary compensation reduction still to be worked out in detail, starting with the Board of Managing Directors and extending across all hierarchical levels. The company said the contribution aims to lower costs per employee, thereby reducing the necessary job cuts and associated one-time expenses, and is expected to provide immediate relief to the income statement in 2027 and 2028. Without it, the job cuts would have been even more extensive.
Schaeffler expects the program to generate savings of approximately 300 million euros per year by 2030, with one-time expenses of approximately 480 million euros, the majority of which will be recognized as restructuring provisions in 2026. The measures are to be implemented in a socially responsible manner and in close dialogue with employee representatives and works councils, based on the Future Accord concluded in 2018, with structural measures primarily scheduled for 2027 and 2028. The announcement was made via NEWMEDIAWIRE, and the original release is available at www.newmediawire.com.
Chief Executive Officer Klaus Rosenfeld said the program aims to show that, despite the challenging operating environment, it is both possible and sensible to develop and manufacture in Germany and Europe in a way that is competitive and cost-efficient over the long term. Chief Operating Officer Dr. Jochen Schröder noted that in addition to developing the core business, the group has promising growth opportunities in future-oriented fields, particularly humanoid robotics and defense. The program aligns with Schaeffler’s strategy to become the leading Motion Technology Company, with cross-sector diversification viewed as an opportunity to replace declining activities with new business.
