Schaeffler to cut 3,460 jobs and close five sites, 2,660 of them in Germany

Job cuts and site closures

Schaeffler, an auto and industrial supplier based in Herzogenaurach, announced on Tuesday, 3 November 2026, a new savings programme that cuts 3,460 jobs and closes five sites. The company said 2,660 of the posts and four of the closures fall in Germany. Dpa and Bloomberg place the 3,460 cuts in Europe, with Bloomberg saying about three quarters are in Germany, while N-tv and der Standard describe the total as worldwide. Der Standard breaks the cuts down by function, with about 50% in production, 30% in research and development and 20% in other functions. Sources also differ on reach: der Standard counts 16 affected sites in Europe, while 7sur7 speaks of about a dozen.

Total announced3,460

Germany2,660

Total announced

3460 jobs

Germany

2660 jobs

Data from the article text

The sites

7sur7 names the four German sites as Dortmund, Morbach, Berlin and Schwalbach, where 2,660 jobs are at risk. The fifth closure is the Herstal plant in Belgium's Liège province, which the company puts at approximately 15 employees. Berliner Zeitung reports that Schaeffler had not initially said which German plants would close. Dpa says the closures are planned for the longer term.

Costs and financial pressure

Schaeffler points to a persistently difficult market in the auto business, above-average personnel costs per head in Germany, and an organisation with too many management levels and too narrow spans of control. The programme is expected to save 300 million euros a year from 2030, and the company puts its cost at 480 million euros, which Handelsblatt says will be set aside in the final quarter of the current fiscal year. In the quarter just ended, revenue reached 5.8 billion euros, slightly below the prior year, while operating profit fell 7.2% to 245 million euros. The sales margin dropped 0.3 percentage points to 4.2%, but the company said it is sticking to its targets for this year and the following years. Handelsblatt, citing preliminary third-quarter figures, reports that the electric segment's margin has been about minus 15% since the start of the year. Group circles say the board under CEO Klaus Rosenfeld is especially worried about the auto divisions, where the traditional combustion business is shrinking faster than expected.

Timing, process and management

The cuts are to begin next year, but Schaeffler first has to agree the framework conditions with its employee representatives. According to Handelsblatt, redundancy agreements must be drawn up by the end of 2028 at the latest, through a severance programme designed to be socially acceptable. Around 32,000 people worked for Schaeffler in Germany at the end of September. Insiders told Handelsblatt that at least two of the seven management levels below the board will be removed, mainly in the upper and middle leadership circles. The supervisory board decided in the spring to combine research and development with production, supply chain management and purchasing, and it is set to shrink to eight members over time. Schaeffler declined to comment when Handelsblatt asked.