Job cuts at Hella: 225 jobs in Burgenland affected!

Job cuts at Hella: 225 jobs in Burgenland affected!

Großpetersdorf, Österreich - The Hella Vehicle parts Austria GmbH, a subsidiary of Forvia Hella, is planning a significant job cuts in Burgenland. Around 225 jobs in Großpetersdorf are to be canceled by 2027. This decision is part of a strategic realignment that is accompanied by increasing competitive pressure in the agricultural and construction machinery business, as reported.

The assembly activities will be relocated to the international network of Forvia Hella in the coming years, while some core areas such as injection molding and refining will remain at the Großpetersdorf location. Managing Director Stefan van Dalen made it clear that the new orders for the location were not sufficiently secured to maintain the jobs in the long term.

activities to reduce the consequences

In order to alleviate the social consequences of the job cut, a social plan will be developed in cooperation with the works council in the coming weeks. The Pro-GE production union offers support during this negotiations to help the employees concerned in the best possible way. Economic State Councilor Leonhard Schneemann from the SPÖ has guaranteed his support and suggests a “round table” with AMS and social partners to develop measures to integrate the 225 dismissed employees into the labor market.

Hella vehicle parts Austria has 125 locations worldwide and employs around 36,500 people. The developments in Großpetersdorf are in the context of a worrying trend in the automotive industry that not only affects local companies.

The pressure on the industry increases

In Germany, the labor market is described as stable, but an industry comparison reveals significant structural changes that have far -reaching consequences for the employees. Erdal Tahta, Chairman of the Works Council of ZF in Koblenz, criticizes the plans of a savings program, which is to reduce more than 14,000 jobs by 2028. This is responsible for this, a difficult market situation and a worldwide auto production that remains behind the numbers before Corona pandemic.

A similar situation is also emerging from other automotive suppliers: for the Trier-Saarburg location Plant Bilstein from Thyssenkrupp 200 jobs, Ronal closes its location in Landau when it comes to 550 jobs. Eberspächer has already painted over 200 jobs, and Michelin plans to close the work in Trier until the end of the year.

business specialist Jens Südekum speaks of a structural crisis in the processing industry, which also affects other sectors. At the same time, the number of employed people in Germany remains stable, but employment in areas such as health and care grows that tend to offer lower wages. The reduction of jobs in the metal, electrical, steel and construction industry shows the massive upheaval on the German labor market, which is reinforced by competitive pressure from China and the USA, as well as high energy costs and shortage of skilled workers.

The negative development is underpinned by the IFO business climate index, which shows a deteriorated mood in the German economy. Production declines are booked in key areas such as car production and mechanical engineering, which underlines concern about increasing unemployment and stagnating economic growth. This is directly related to the situation at Hella, where competitive pressure and market changes endanger the future of the company in Burgenland.