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Economy in corona crisis: Lufthansa sends 87,000 employees on short-time work - "It no longer makes sense ..."

2020-04-01T10:36:38.506Z


From an economic point of view, Germany is a car country - the corona crisis hits the industry hard. BMW is taking new measures. But petrol stations and car dealerships also suffer.


From an economic point of view, Germany is a car country - the corona crisis hits the industry hard. BMW is taking new measures. But petrol stations and car dealerships also suffer.

  • The corona virus crisis poses gigantic problems for the German economy.
  • Headlines recently made delicate plans for large retailers - but the auto industry is also suffering.
  • You can find the most important information on the general status of the epidemic in Germany in our news ticker.

Update of April 1, 12 noon: The Lufthansa Group continues to operate on only around five percent of its previous performance. Internationally, the corona crisis hit aircraft companies and tour operators first. The Group has now announced that around two thirds of its workforce worldwide will be working short-time. A total of 87,000 people are affected. "For commercial reasons, flying no longer makes sense at these times," said Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr , hoping for political help.

A company spokesman confirmed on Wednesday in Frankfurt that social security benefits had been applied for in various countries for the employees concerned. Depending on the company and part of the company , this applies retrospectively from March 1, but mostly from April. The portal had previously reported on Business Insider . The largest aviation group in Europe employed around 135,000 men and women in 2019.

All airlines and subsidiaries in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Belgium are affected by short-time working . In addition to the already known around 27,000 short-time workers at the German core company Lufthansa, there are other large blocks at Swiss (9500) and Austrian (7000). The Belgian Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa Technik and the catering subsidiary LSG also have a lot of work to do. Lufthansa pilots have yet to reach an agreement with the Cockpit Association.

Economy in corona crisis: BMW measure hits 20,000 employees

Update of March 31, 7:33 p.m .: Adidas is responding to the corona crisis and the associated uncertainties by stopping the share buyback program for this year. This is how the sporting goods manufacturer wants to maintain its financial flexibility in the current environment. Immediately after the start of retail closings in Europe and North America , Adidas said on March 17 that it had suspended the first tranche of its multi-year share buyback program. With the current decision of the board, the company will not use up to one billion euros, which were earmarked for the share buyback.

At the same time, the company announced that it had reached an agreement with the works councils at the German retail locations on April 1 to reduce working hours . Accordingly, this includes paid vacation, the reduction of overtime and short-time work . Around 1200 employees are currently affected by short-time work.

In Bavaria, Health Minister Huml comes under pressure - Söder demands more speed and sends his lawyers *.

Economy in corona crisis: BMW measure hits 20,000 employees

Update from March 31, 2020, 5:51 p.m .: In view of the closure of all branches in Germany due to the Corona crisis, the Swedish fashion chain H&M has applied for short-time work benefits for almost 20,000 employees for the period from March to May. The company announced in Hamburg.

The company announced that it would increase short-time work benefits to 100 percent of its net salary in March and to 90 percent in April and May, following an agreement with the general works council. Solutions have also been found for mini-jobbers and working students .

Update of March 31, 2020, 5:30 p.m .: Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) has rejected calls for increased government aid in the coronavirus pandemic. Germany is now "in implementation mode", said Heil in Berlin on Tuesday. "You should be careful with further financial commitments."

He said, however, that "I would examine all reasonable proposals and, in case of doubt, approach the legislature," added Heil. This applies if the restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic apply longer than previously thought .

Auto industry shaken by corona crisis: VW extends stop

Update from March 31, 2020, 5:02 p.m .: The auto industry remains a major problem child in the corona crisis: Volkswagen is extending the closure of its core brand plants in Germany by another ten days due to the corona pandemic. Instead of until April 9, as planned, production will now be suspended until April 19, the company said on Tuesday. The interruptions had already been extended. VW has reported short-time work for tens of thousands of employees .

In the meantime, several large companies have already expressed their interest in government aid.

Corona virus and the German economy: Breweries in need, the state responds

Update of March 31, 2020, 4.47 p.m .: The state is helping the German breweries hit by the Corona crisis : According to the German Brewers Association (DBB), the federal government and the states agreed on a nationwide deferral of the beer tax on Tuesday. The industry is afraid of a bankruptcy wave due to closed restaurants and canceled events, which have a massive impact on beverage sales.

The temporary relief for the breweries is estimated at EUR 650 million. "This is an important signal for the brewing industry, even if I have to emphasize that it is a deferral of the tax, not subsidies or state aid," said Eichele.

Update of March 31, 2020, 3:22 p.m .: Germany's breweries are calling for financial support from the state in the Corona crisis to avert a bankruptcy wave. "We fear that a large number of restaurants and breweries will have to give up in the coming weeks," said Holger Eichele, chief executive of the German Brewers Association (DBB), on Tuesday to the AFP news agency. Many of the approximately 1,500 beer producers nationwide are threatened in their existence by the continued closure of restaurants and bars . There is also a risk of a bottleneck in the supply of empties to producers .

Many of the medium-sized breweries therefore generate a large part of their sales through regional gastronomy. In addition, according to Eichele, there are lease payments and loans from the restaurants, some of which are now completely canceled. In addition, tens of thousands of events were canceled and the export business largely came to a standstill.

"Many restaurants and breweries will not survive this crisis without government aid," said Eichele. The Wernecker brewery in Bavaria was the first family business to give up after 400 years.

Corona virus with long-term effects on the German economy - regional and digital?

Update from March 31, 2:28 p.m .: The management consultancy McKinsey expects major changes in the German economy after the Corona crisis - it can be expected that more will happen in the region and digitally. "Companies will be more secure," McKinsey production and supply chain expert Knut Alicke said in a video conference Tuesday.

In the automotive industry, for example, there are complex supply chains of up to six or seven levels; Sea freight between Europe and China was underway for a month. "We expect a lot of companies to look at their global supply chains and build more local structures," said Alicke. The trend to produce in the region for the region - in Eastern Europe for Europe, in China for China - will intensify. The wage differentials between China, Eastern Europe and Mexico are no longer that big. In addition, inventories are likely to increase.

At the same time, the digitalization of the entire economy will now take place much faster. “When things are going well and profitability is right, nobody wants to change. Now you are forced to think about new structures, ”said the consultant. Online retail is a big winner . “Many retailers are now offering their goods online for the first time.” Supermarkets are currently benefiting from hamster purchases and panic purchases of toilet paper, but this is not going to last, because “the demand is not growing”. The aviation industry, on the other hand, is likely to feel the slow recovery in tourism and the decline in business travel for longer.

Coronavirus affects German economy: Altmaier also expects slumps

Corona crisis hits German economy: 470,000 companies rely on short-time work

Update from March 31, 2:25 p.m .: According to the Federal Minister of Labor Hubertus Heil (SPD), 470,000 companies have so far received notice of short-time work in the corona crisis. How many people will be affected by short-time work cannot yet be precisely estimated, said Heil on Tuesday in Berlin. However, it should be expected that there will be more than during the financial crisis; at that time this affected 1.4 million people.

Corona crisis: BMW short-time work hits 20,000 employees - “petrol station deaths” also feared

Munich / Stuttgart - The corona crisis hits many branches of business life hard - from shopkeepers to creative artists and professional sports to gastronomy. But the auto industry is obviously suffering badly. At the end of March, several bad news and calls for help came from the industry, which is so important for Germany.

For example, BMW registered short-time work * for almost 20,000 employees with the employment agency in March. Most of them were employed in the Dingolfing, Munich, Regensburg and Leipzig plants, a spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

Corona crisis plunges car manufacturers into trouble: BMW and Porsche shut down production

The carmaker had stopped production in its European factories two weeks ago. The tapes should initially be up to April 19. Because of the corona crisis , the demand for cars has declined significantly, many dealers in Europe have closed, and many suppliers are also stopping work.

+

Almost 20,000 BMW employees on short-time work - the Dingolfing plant is also affected.

© dpa / Armin Weigel

Work also stops elsewhere. Due to the corona virus pandemic, the plants of the sports car manufacturer Porsche will remain completely closed for at least next week. Against the background of the current situation, production in the main plant in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen and Leipzig will continue to be suspended, a spokesman said on Tuesday. There are still bottlenecks in global supply chains that do not allow orderly production. Porsche announced in mid-March that it would initially stop working in the plants for two weeks. The carmaker has also registered short-time work for its employees.

Corona virus and the economic consequences: “Gas station deaths” feared

According to their association, petrol station operators in Germany are also in a highly dramatic situation due to the coronavirus crisis. If people refuel less because of exit restrictions, this could quickly bring operators to the brink of existence, a spokesman for the petrol station interest group told the German press agency on Tuesday. A week or two are just barely manageable. "But a small petrol station operator can't swallow three, four weeks or even more."

According to the association, the operators are usually only tenants of the petrol stations. However, the owners are large oil companies such as Shell or Total . Due to the current situation, the association demands that the lease be set to zero. In addition, the state should help with an immediate operating grant. "Otherwise we will have a gas station die, and within the next few months," said the spokesman.

Corona virus: Federal government should help car dealerships - Car handovers are currently difficult

In view of the corona virus crisis, the car industry is also calling on politicians to help affected car dealers. "Nationwide, the automotive trade is currently facing massive problems, " says an appeal published on Tuesday by the Association of the Automotive Industry, the Association of International Motor Vehicle Manufacturers and the Central Association of the German Motor Vehicle Industry. Accordingly, the federal, state and local authorities should act quickly in order to "avert bankruptcies and job losses in the motor vehicle trade".

Because registration agencies are only limited or not open at all, dealers cannot allow cars, the appeal says. In addition, vehicles already registered could not be handed over to buyers in every state due to different regulations. "One solution could be that vehicle deliveries take place without any close contact between seller and buyer." The associations demanded that transfers be made possible nationwide.

Corona virus: VW boss Diess still has hope for 2020

But there is obviously also a glimmer of hope. Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess does not want to write off the financial year completely despite the Corona crisis. Whether the group will achieve its profit targets for 2020 can only really be estimated if the duration of the "shutdown" can be foreseen, Diess said in a podcast published on Tuesday with journalist Gabor Steingart.

"If you assume that the crisis will be dealt with as quickly as China, then you can certainly get away with a black eye," said Diess. "If you assume, of course, that we have a shutdown here for months, then it will be difficult." However, the People's Republic admitted a questionable trick on their statistics on Corona case numbers on Tuesday.

In the meantime, Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder, together with Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, has explained the steps to contain the economic problems in the country.

Cell phone data monitoring is being debated in Germany - a virologist warns of "pseudo-security" and speaks of "hell-crazy".

dpa / fn

* Merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital-Rerdaktionsnetzwerk.

Rubric list picture: © dpa / Soeren Stache

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2020-04-01

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