Reorganization necessary

220 jobs lost: Voest closes plant in Germany

Voestalpine - here CEO Herbert Eibensteiner - has now come to far-reaching decisions.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Daniel Scharinger, Foto Kerschi)

In recent weeks, Voestalpine CEO Herbert Eibensteiner has spoken several times about necessary restructuring measures, and has also announced that there will be other measures apart from the sale of Buderus Edelstahl. Now it is clear what is happening: One plant in Germany will be closed. This means that 220 jobs will be permanently lost and others are in jeopardy.

"The Metal Forming Division is responding to structural changes and declining customer demand in the automotive sector by reorganizing its Automotive Components sites in Germany" - this was the announcement made by Voestalpine on Friday afternoon.

In concrete terms, this means that the plants in Dettingen, Schmölln, Schwäbisch Gmünd and Böhmenkirch will be merged into a so-called production network in the future. The Birkenfeld site, where ready-to-install stamped and formed parts in steel and aluminum are produced for the automotive industry, will be shut down.

Years of losses
The plant, which is to be closed, is said to have been operating at a loss for several years. Despite improvement measures and investments, no turnaround has been achieved. "The closure is necessary in order to create sustainable future prospects for the remaining Automotive Components sites," explains Carola Richter, Member of the Voestalpine Management Board and Head of the Metal Forming Division.

More than 210 jobs in Dettingen are in jeopardy
220 jobs will be lost as a result of the closure in Birkenfeld. Socially acceptable solutions are to be found for the employees. There will also be redundancies at the Dettingen site: Around 216 of the current 650 employees are likely to have to leave. Here, too, solutions are to be found to make the redundancies as socially acceptable as possible.