Automotive suppliers facing tough change process

The tough change in the German automotive supply industry has now been going on for over six years. The major players alone have recently announced the loss of around 40,000 jobs: Bosch announced in September 2025 that it would cut 22,000 jobs in Germany by 2030. At Continental, the total for 2024 and 2025 amounted to 10,000 jobs. The automotive division is to be sold in its entirety and will operate under the name “Aumovio.” ZF Friedrichshafen has also been pushing ahead with the elimination of 14,000 jobs worldwide since 2024. In total, around 51,500 jobs were cut across the German automotive industry in 2025 – almost seven percent of the workforce. In 2019, the situation was not quite as dramatic as described in our original blog post at the time:

The situation back in 2019

In Germany, sales by German automotive manufacturers (OEMs) fell by around five percent in the first half of 2019 compared with the same period last year. In China and the US, the decline was even greater, at over 20 percent. Since suppliers are now responsible for 75 percent of the development and production of a vehicle, they feel the immediate impact of such slumps. The industry, which is dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises, employs around 300,000 people in Germany. Tier 1 suppliers such as Bosch, Continental (Schaeffler), and ZF are now implementing restructuring and cost-cutting programs. They are undergoing a tough change process.

1. Robert Bosch GmbH

Robert Bosch GmbH, headquartered in Gerlingen, is the world’s largest automotive supplier with around 410,000 employees worldwide and annual sales of €47.6 billion (Mobility Solutions division).

Cost-cutting program with 2,000 job cuts in Germany

CEO Dr. Volkmar Denner wants to cut more than 2,000 jobs out of a total of around 140,000 in Germany alone by the end of 2022. He also wants to reduce working hours if necessary. The locations affected are Schwäbisch Gmünd (1,000 jobs), Feuerbach, Schwieberdingen, and Bremen. One of the main reasons for the reduced demand for jobs is the automotive industry’s switch to electromobility. Denner explained this in the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper in the summer: “If we employ ten people for a diesel injection system, we need three for a gasoline system and only one for an electric vehicle.”

2: Continental: “Transformation 2019–2029”

Continental AG, headquartered in Hanover, is the world’s second-largest supplier (sales: €44.4 billion) with 242,000 employees. It is majority-owned by the Schaeffler Group.

Cost-cutting program with 5,000 job cuts in Germany

CEO Dr. Elmar Degenhart plans to cut 15,000 jobs globally by 2023, 5,000 of them in Germany alone. Series production of display and control technologies is to be discontinued at the Babenhausen site by 2025. This will affect 2,200 jobs. In Limbach-Oberfrohna, Continental will phase out its business with hydraulic components for diesel engines (injectors) by 2028. This will result in the loss of 850 jobs. And the Roding site is to be completely closed in 2024 (520 jobs).

Restructuring for €1.1 billion

These measures are part of the global restructuring program called “Transformation 2019-2029.” Among other things, it plans to discontinue the business with hydraulic components for gasoline and diesel engines in the coming years. Instead, the supplier is expanding its profitable growth areas.

The future areas include assisted, automated, and connected driving. Services for mobility customers, the tire business, and business with industrial and end customers are also included. One example is a combination of autonomous shuttles and delivery robots presented by Continental at CES 2019 in Las Vegas. The cost of the restructuring is estimated at €1.1 billion.

Empowering the workforce

It is difficult to turn a mechanical engineer into an electrical engineer at short notice. That is why those responsible at Continental recently founded the “Institute for Technology and Transformation (CITT)”. It offers employees tailor-made courses, seminars, and training programs for targeted qualification. In this way, the supplier aims to open up sustainable career prospects and expanded employment opportunities – both internally and externally.

3. ZF Friedrichshafen: “Next Generation Mobility”

ZF Friedrichshafen AG is the fifth-largest automotive supplier (33.9 billion) in the world and the third-largest in Germany. Of its 135,000 employees worldwide, 50,000 work in Germany.

Cost reduction of over €80 million by 2023

One of the largest single locations, with around 9,500 employees, is Schweinfurt (formerly Fichtel & Sachs). This has been the headquarters of the young E-Mobility division since 2016. ZF CEO Wolf-Henning Scheider wants to save 80 million euros in Schweinfurt alone by 2023. Although there are no plans to cut staff so far, 40-hour contracts will be terminated and working time accounts reduced.

New plants in Serbia and China for 3,000 employees

The group is also relocating jobs to low-wage countries (“best-cost countries”). ZF recently opened a plant in Pancevo, Serbia. There, as in Schweinfurt, the supplier manufactures electric motors as well as electric machines and generators for hybrid and electric drives. It also produces transmission selectors and microswitches there. The plant is designed for 1,000 employees.

In addition, ZF recently entered into a joint venture with the Chinese Wolong Electric Group for the production of electric motors and their components in China. The number of employees is expected to grow to 2,000 by 2025.

Higher parts production for electric drives

ZF Friedrichshafen had already established its “Next Generation Mobility” strategy before the current crisis. Its main focus is on the future expansion of four technology fields: electromobility, vehicle motion control, autonomous driving, and integrated safety. ZF currently generates sales of one billion euros with parts for electric drives alone. According to CEO Scheider, revenues from this are expected to multiply to several billion in the coming years.

Investments in e-mobility exceeding €35 million

The company is therefore currently expanding its production of electric drives in Schweinfurt with a second line. It is being built on an area of 2,000 square meters in the South Plant (Building 601). Employees previously produced shock absorbers there. From the end of the first quarter of 2020, around 100,000 units per year are expected to roll off the production line. 70 employees will work directly on the production line, 20 in work preparation and quality assurance. ZF is investing 35 million euros in the new production line.

Investments in New Work exceeding €30 million

ZF had already opened an e-mobility center at the site in the summer at a cost of €30 million. This is a new building for the administration, development, and sales of the “E-Mobility” division. It offers space for 520 employees. Their workplaces have been designed to enable them to work flexibly on a project basis and communicate well with each other. “We want to offer our top talent a good working environment,” said Jörg Grotendorst, head of the E-Mobility division, on this occasion.

4. Employees want to partizipate in restructuring

Tens of thousands of employees have taken to the streets in recent weeks to protest against the austerity plans. They have several concerns:

• Many employees fear that their old qualifications will no longer meet the new requirements.
• Quite a few employees are afraid that their jobs could be relocated to countries with lower wage levels.
• Many employees do not share the vision of their management – for example, the complete switch from combustion engines to electric drives.

“Let’s work with employees”

No wonder, then, that many want to have a say in the restructuring process. One of their mouthpieces for (more) co-determination is the IG Metall trade union. At a union action day in Stuttgart on November 22, 2019, attended by 15,000 participants, its district manager for Baden-Württemberg, Roman Zitzelsberger, said: “We demand secure employment in times of change and want to have a say in our future. Shaping the future can only be done together! Let’s work with the employees to develop prospects for all our locations and for a transformation that includes all employees.”

“All employees must be included”

IG Metall deputy leader Christiane Benner emphasized at a demonstration of around 900 Continental employees on November 20, 2019, in Hanover: “All employees must be included.” She also criticized the Continental Executive Board for its decision to discontinue the business with hydraulic components for gasoline and diesel engines. In her opinion, there is likely to be demand for technology for diesel and gasoline engines for a long time to come. Benner is also deputy chairwoman of the Continental Supervisory Board.