The German heavy-duty manufacturer MAN, a subsidiary of the Volkswagen group, announced on Friday that it planned to cut 9,500 jobs, or a quarter of its workforce worldwide, as part of a global restructuring plan.
The management board "
decided on a major reorientation
", including savings of 1.8 billion euros, including "
the elimination of up to 9,500 jobs in Germany, Austria and throughout the world, in all sectors of activity of the group
”, detailed the company in a press release.
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Three factories, in Steyr in Austria as well as in Plauen and Wittlich in Germany, could be closed, adds MAN.
"
MAN's management board will quickly start negotiations with employee representatives
" on the restructuring, the manufacturer said in a statement.
In the first half of the year, marked by the Covid-19 pandemic which plunged large swathes of the economy into an unprecedented crisis, MAN posted an operating loss of 423 million euros with a drop in turnover by 26% over one year, to 4.7 billion.
In the second quarter in particular, the factories of the manufacturer of buses and trucks had been partly closed.
MAN was already planning a cost-saving plan before Covid-19 to react to a drop in demand which simply worsened with the health crisis.
According to German media, the group had envisaged up to 6,000 job cuts.
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In its 2019 annual report, which does not take the pandemic into account, MAN already forecast a "
drastic
"
drop
in its results, notably as a result of a 10% to 20% melting of the European market.
MAN is 95% owned by Traton, the heavy-duty arm of the Volkswagen group.