European infrastructure is undergoing a brutal reality check. While a rail giant cuts thousands of jobs, the energy sector breaks connection records, and drivers reject high salaries.
Examination of Conscience on Tracks and in Grids. German logistics received a shocking diagnosis in the last 48 hours. The CEO of DB Cargo, Bernhard Osburg, announced the necessity of eliminating 6,200 full-time positions, which represents a staggering 44% of the personnel in the company's German structures. This decision does not stem from a temporary downturn, but from a permanent decline in demand from the chemical and steel industries.
The carrier's management has set 2030 as the final deadline for aligning costs with market realities. The restructuring plan assumes leaving only 8,000 employees and integrating processes at the European level. The supervisory board has already been notified that without achieving so-called black zeros by 2026, the company's future will be in question.
In contrast to the shrinking freight transport sector, the Polish energy industry is recording unprecedented growth. The company Energa Operator issued connection conditions in 2025 for RES sources with a capacity of 2.5 GW. CEO Robert Świerzyński confirmed that the dynamics in the energy storage segment exceeded 260% year-on-year, forcing the implementation of an investment plan worth 40 billion PLN.
Job Reductions at DB Cargo (Germany): Current state: 14000, Planned layoffs: 6200, Target state: 7800
The Human Factor as a Bottleneck. The paradox of the current economic situation is most clearly manifested in road transport. Despite salary offers reaching 12,000 PLN per month, Polish transport companies are unable to fill vacancies. Experienced drivers are resigning en masse from international routes in favor of domestic ones, choosing life stability at the cost of lower earnings.
The problem is not solely the level of remuneration, but the hidden costs of labor. Well-known industry driver Iwona Blecharczyk points to the real financial burdens on workers on the road. „Płacisz za toaletę, płacisz za prysznic, płacisz za wszystko” (You pay for the toilet, you pay for the shower, you pay for everything) — Iwona Blecharczyk. A report by the company Eurowag confirms that staff shortages are paralyzing logistics not only in Poland, but also in the Czech Republic, Spain, and Romania.
Physical exhaustion of personnel leads to tragic consequences, as confirmed by events in Gijón, Spain. A tow truck driver suffered a syncope there, leading to a fatal collision with a pedestrian on Avenida de la Constitución. This accident, along with a series of worker deaths in Aragon and Catalonia, exposes the limits of human endurance in optimized supply chains.
The personnel crisis in European transport has been growing systematically since the accession of new states to the EU in 2004. Initially, the gap was filled by workers from Central and Eastern Europe, but this drain has been exhausted, and an aging society is not providing replacements for retiring drivers. At the same time, the big-box retail model, dominant since the 1990s, is giving way to hybrids and e-commerce, as seen in the decisions of giants like IKEA.
Optimization of Space and Resources. Adapting to new conditions forces unconventional alliances in retail. Sweden's IKEA decided to share space in its Greenwich store with the French chain Decathlon. This is a clear signal that maintaining giant, standalone retail facilities is becoming economically inefficient in an era of rising costs and changing consumer habits.
Market experts view this move as an attempt to save the profitability of traditional locations. „We're seeing a growing need for diversification among big-box retailers to attract consumers. Such partnerships could become more common as stores look to optimize their use of space.” — Retail market expert quoted by Reuters Similar logic guides Bernhard Osburg at DB Cargo – instead of maintaining loss-making structures, the company is integrating resources at a continental level.
One could argue that the current turmoil is merely a cyclical correction following the pandemic. Opponents of the structural crisis thesis point to still high transport volumes and investments, such as 40 billion PLN in the Energa Operator grid. They claim the market will regulate labor supply through further wage increases.
However, facts contradict optimistic assumptions about self-regulation. If salaries of 12,000 PLN do not attract drivers, and a state-owned rail giant must lay off nearly half its staff to survive, we are dealing with a structural barrier. Money has ceased to be a sufficient motivator in the face of difficult working conditions, and traditional industry no longer generates enough cargo mass to maintain old logistics models.
The European economy is entering a phase of painful resource verification. On one hand, we have modern energy with 3.3 GW of capacity in energy storage; on the other – exhausted human capital and outdated corporate structures. Transformation will not consist of adding new elements, but of drastically cutting those that no longer fit the puzzle.
Two Speeds of Transformation: Employment in traditional logistics (DB Cargo): 14,000 jobs → 44% reduction; Investments in new energy (Energa): 0.86 GW of RES connection capacity (2023) → 2.5 GW of capacity (2025)
30% — the amount by which power grid flexibility is expected to increase thanks to new energy storage
Perspektywy mediów: Left-leaning media may emphasize the drama of laid-off DB Cargo workers and the tragic working conditions of drivers as evidence of the dehumanization of capitalism. Liberal and business media will focus on the necessity of restructuring unprofitable state-owned companies and the successes in energy modernization as a driver of growth.