Thyssenkrupp, Germany’s largest steelmaker, has announced plans to cut a total of 11,000 jobs in its struggling steel division as part of efforts to reduce staff costs by approximately 10%. The company intends to eliminate 5,000 positions and outsource another 6,000, with the job cuts scheduled to be completed by 2030.
Currently, Thyssenkrupp’s steel unit employs around 27,000 people. The company has faced significant challenges, including tough competition, particularly from Asia, a global oversupply of steel, higher interest rates, and rising energy costs exacerbated by the war in Ukraine.
“Urgent measures are required to improve Thyssenkrupp Steel’s own productivity and operating efficiency and to achieve a competitive cost level,” the company stated in a release quoted by Reuters.
In addition to the job cuts, Thyssenkrupp has downgraded the value of its steel business by €1 billion, citing weak earnings expectations and the high costs of transitioning to more sustainable production methods. The German industrial giant also announced a net loss of €1.4 billion for the year, a significant improvement over last year’s loss of €2 billion. This devaluation marks the company’s second asset impairment in two years, following a €2.1 billion write-down in its steel unit in November 2023.
