It’s nothing less than an unexpected clear-cut, but as expected, the Horst Brandstätter Group doesn’t bother to explain or even justify it. The company from Zirndorf, Franconia, known for its toy brand Playmobil, is cutting almost 700 jobs by 2025 at the toy manufacturer and its sister brand Lechuza, which produces plastic plant pots. 369 of these positions will be eliminated in Germany, which, according to the company, corresponds to 16 percent of the workforce in this country. The company announced this just one day after the opening of an anniversary exhibition celebrating 50 years of Playmobil in the Historical Museum in Speyer.
The company said on Monday afternoon that the reduction was decided after a “comprehensive investigation of all business areas and taking business development into account”. There is talk of unspecified “economic challenges” and a “challenging situation in the past two financial years” with losses in sales and earnings. Corona, recession, the global economy – hardly any of the common buzzwords are missing. According to experts and observers in the toy industry, however, it is largely home-made reasons that are causing the company, which has flourished for decades, to become more and more in trouble.
Since the long-time company patriarch Horst Brandstätter died in 2015, things have not been going well in the Playmobil world. According to SZ information from insider circles, Playmobil recently lost market share in important toy markets. In the 2021/22 financial year, Playmobil sales fell by six percent, while the toy industry as a whole increased by 8.5 percent despite Corona. In the recent past, expensive mishaps such as a lavishly produced Playmobil cinema film that flopped have also had a negative impact. The managers in Zirndorf have been coming and going for years, most recently in August when company boss Steffen Höpfner threw in the towel with resignation. What has persisted since Brandstätter’s death are massive complaints about a corporate culture characterized by a lack of appreciation. According to critics, this also affects the creativity and commitment of employees. Employee representatives repeatedly complain about bullying, arguments and intrigues. The works council recently reported in an internal newsletter that “fear and humiliation are the order of the day” and that, for example, young mothers returning from parental leave are being harassed. The company always rejects all allegations as false, but the complaints keep coming up.
According to insiders, the fact that things are not going well economically and the working conditions are so critical is due to the management structure. The company belongs to a foundation founded by Brandstätter during his lifetime. A strong figure on paper in the Brandstätter cosmos is Marianne Albert, a former personal assistant to Horst Brandstätter. Before his death eight years ago, she held no significant management positions in the company; The company remains stubbornly silent about her professional career and qualifications.
The job cuts that have now been announced will be “socially acceptable and, if possible, amicable,” the company said in its press release. It is reasonable to assume that this step is related to an investigation by the management consultancy McKinsey, which has been investigating the Brandstätter company for many weeks. The company did not provide any information about this either. It is also unclear in which areas of the company the jobs will be cut. A part is likely to be eliminated in plastic mold making in Dietenhofen, also in Franconia, where the company had previously confirmed the loss of 74 jobs upon request. Playmobil and Lechuza produce larger-volume plastic parts there, while the finger-length plastic figures are manufactured in a factory on the Mediterranean island of Malta.