Continental closes Wetzlar: 1,100 jobs at risk!

Continental closes Wetzlar: 1,100 jobs at risk!

In a sad turn of events for the region, Continental has announced that its locations in Wetzlar and Schwalbach will be closed by the end of 2025. This decision affects around 1,100 jobs in Hesse, many of which will be relocated to Frankfurt and Babenhausen. The remaining positions are to be cut in a “socially acceptable” manner, which creates enormous uncertainty for employees. Loud Hesse show A total of 2,300 of the approximately 8,000 employees in the Rhine-Main area are affected, with 1,200 jobs to be cut. The focus of savings is particularly on administration and research and development.

A company spokesman confirmed the agreement on a social plan that is intended to offer the affected employees security, perspectives and support. The first representative of IG Metall Mittelhessen, Stefan Sachs, described the social plan as “okay under the general conditions”. Details of the plan include, among other things, an early retirement model and an extensive severance package, supplemented by the option of transferring to a transfer company. Employees were informed today about these measures, such as: Allgäu newspaper reported.

Closures and impacts

The closures in Wetzlar and Schwalbach are part of a more extensive savings program decided by Continental. Within the automotive division, which recently had around 92,000 employees, the job cuts are expected to include 7,150 positions worldwide. The pressure to reduce administrative costs by 400 million euros by 2025 is enormous, and the closure of the electronics factory in Karben at the end of this year is seen as a clear indicator of the problem. The number of employees there fell from 900 to currently around 200.

The city of Wetzlar was disappointed with the closure plans and emphasized that it wanted to influence the decisions. IG Metall criticizes the company's information policy and calls for the location to be preserved. The withdrawal from production in Karben will be completed by the end of the year, while the closure of the Babenhausen site will be brought forward to the fourth quarter of 2026.

The view of the industry

In a broader context, job losses in industry are not a new phenomenon, but the pace has increased significantly in recent years. The structural change in the German economy is being accelerated by factors such as automation, digital transformation and international competition. In cities such as Cologne, Leipzig and Stuttgart, thousands of employees are demonstrating against the reduction of industrial jobs, which primarily affects the automotive, mechanical engineering and steel industries Specialist focus analyzed.

The crisis in the industry has far-reaching consequences for employees and the local economy. Political measures to stabilize the labor market are needed to enable retraining and support for sustainable production. Looking at your own industry is crucial: How can companies and politicians work together to create new perspectives in difficult times?