The automotive supplier Forvia, parent company of Hella, wants to reduce costs. To achieve this, jobs should be cut. What this means for German locations is uncertain.
The French automotive supplier Forvia is cutting up to 10,000 jobs over the next five years. The Hella parent company announced on Monday that a total of 13 percent of jobs would be affected as part of the “EU Forward” savings program. The main plan is not to fill vacant positions and to be cautious about hiring new employees. “Our fluctuation rate is 2,000 to 2,500 annually,” said Forvia CFO Olivier Durand. “The plan doesn’t mean at all that 10,000 employees will be laid off now. What it means is that we have to make sure we only hire the people we absolutely need.”
A Hella spokesman left it open how many jobs could be lost in Germany. The company is now negotiating with employee representatives about the savings plans. A result can be expected in the coming months. On Friday, Hella announced that it wanted to save 400 million euros annually by 2028 through more automation and bundling activities.
Forvia wants to reduce its costs by a total of 500 million euros annually from 2028. The profit margin should be raised to the pre-Corona level of seven percent from 2.5 percent in 2023. The company increased sales last year by almost three percent to 27.25 billion euros.