Tough break

Solar crisis! Fronius cuts 350 employees

In recent years, the Fronius technology group has shed an enormous number of employees, and now 350 staff are being made redundant.(Bild: Markus Wenzel)

The problems had been announced, and internal short-time working had already been introduced as a countermeasure - but that was not enough! On Tuesday, Fronius announced that it would have to let go of 350 employees in its solar division based in Sattledt (Upper Austria).

Before the job cuts were registered with the Public Employment Service, the technology group Fronius informed the workforce that 350 employees working in the "Solar Energy" division in Sattledt (Upper Austria) would have to go.

The family-owned company, which operates from Pettenbach, had already cut shifts and parted with leased workers at the end of the previous year. This year, internal short-time working was introduced for 1,300 employees in solar production - Fronius specializes in the production of inverters.

Dumping prices from manufacturers in China have flooded the European market with products, some of which are below production cost.

Fronius-Geschäftsführerin Elisabeth Engelbrechtsmüller-Strauß über eines der Probleme am Solarmarkt

Warehouses are full
However, instead of the situation easing, it became even more acute. Wholesalers' and installers' warehouses are full and their stocks are being reduced much more slowly than expected.

Forecasts have not held true, lower energy costs and uncertainties regarding subsidies have contributed to the fact that the construction of photovoltaic systems in Austria is 30 to 40 percent lower than in 2023.

In Germany, the market for rooftop systems has even halved, according to Managing Director Elisabeth Engelbrechtsmüller-Strauß, who assumes that the dismissal of the 350 employees will sufficiently reduce personnel costs and that no further redundancies are imminent.

"Measures were not sufficient"
Engelbrechtsmüller-Strauß is pained that redundancies have become necessary: "At Fronius, the community is very important to us and may also cost something. Unfortunately, however, the measures taken so far have not been sufficient."