ZF Friedrichshafen: Brutal job cuts hit Brandenburg hard!

ZF Friedrichshafen: Brutal job cuts hit Brandenburg hard!

A dramatic chapter for the automotive industry: The automotive supplier ZF Friedrichshafen announces massive job cuts that will hit the workforce in Brandenburg an der Havel hard. Around 700 to 850 jobs are to be eliminated by 2028 - that's almost half of the 1,600 employees at this location! CEO Holger Klein had already announced at the end of July that a total of up to 14,000 jobs would be cut in Germany, and the reality is now becoming increasingly tangible.

The city of Brandenburg an der Havel is in turmoil! Mayor Steffen Scheller describes the announcement as a “real punch” for the industrial location. While the factory in Gelsenkirchen is scheduled to close at the end of the year, the location in Brandenburg will remain open for the time being, but uncertainty hovers over the employees. ZF Friedrichshafen justifies the drastic measures with the necessary restructuring in the course of the transformation to electromobility. The production of dual clutch transmissions for combustion engines and plug-in hybrids is particularly affected.

Gradual job cuts announced

ZF plans to cut jobs gradually. 200 to 450 jobs are expected to be lost by 2025. Despite the bleak outlook, there is a glimmer of hope: Mayor Scheller encourages employees not to give up. He emphasizes that the management is actively working on new business areas to secure the future of the location. But the reality is merciless: Even new production lines for electric vehicles cannot protect against job cuts, as the example of Saarbrücken shows, where 1,800 jobs will also be cut.

ZF Friedrichshafen has a long history, founded in 1915 and headquartered in Friedrichshafen, Baden-Württemberg. With over 168,000 employees worldwide and sales of 46.6 billion euros in 2023, the company is a giant in the automotive supply industry. But the challenges facing the industry are enormous and the future remains uncertain.