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Hoerbiger: 50 jobs will be relocated to Poland - many employees resign voluntarily

2023-03-21T16:46:04.461Z


Hoerbiger Kompressortechnik Schongau relocates part of the final assembly to Poland. Around 50 employees will lose their jobs. In addition, restructuring is planned at Hoerbiger Antriebstechnik, which is unsettling for employees. There are more voluntary layoffs than ever before.


Hoerbiger Kompressortechnik Schongau relocates part of the final assembly to Poland.

Around 50 employees will lose their jobs.

In addition, restructuring at Hoerbiger Antriebstechnik is planned, which is unsettling for employees.

There are more voluntary layoffs than ever before.

Schongau – Hoerbiger employees in Schongau are currently very uneasy.

There is talk of impending job cuts, employees no longer see any future prospects and complain about a tense situation in everyday work.

Around 320 employees at Hoerbiger Compression Technology in Schongau develop and produce systems for compressors that are used in vehicles and in air conditioning and refrigeration technology.

According to Hoerbiger, one cannot compensate for the cost pressure without downsizing

Profitability has continued to fall in recent years due to an enormous drop in product prices.

However, according to the Schongauer Nachrichten, the plant would not be able to compensate for the rapidly increasing cost pressure without “personnel policy measures”.

"One measure to reduce costs and secure the future of the plant is to relocate part of the final assembly of the products to the Hoerbiger site in Boleslawiec, Poland," says Hoerbiger press spokeswoman Anja Weidel.

The individual components will continue to be manufactured in Schongau.

From there, the components for specific products and customers would be transported to Poland in the future, where the systems would be assembled and delivered to the customers.

50 jobs are gradually being cut

As a result, around 50 jobs will be lost at the Hoerbiger Compression Technology plant in Schongau in the second half of the year.

It is planned that first of all temporary employment contracts will be terminated or fixed-term contracts will expire.

"These positions already make up a large part of the jobs affected." Further jobs can be cut by entering semi-retirement or by retiring.

Other jobs, on the other hand, would be eliminated through “natural fluctuation”.

According to this calculation, there would still be a single-digit number of employees whose jobs would be lost.

"These were tough weeks and tough negotiations," comments Herbert Baumer, Chairman of the Compression Technology Works Council and Chairman of the Group Works Council.

It was quite successful to find a solution in the reconciliation of interests and social plan to stretch the job cuts somewhat over time.

"There is no quick-fix action, starting from this second half of the year it will last until 2025." One achievement in the social plan is that a large number of employees are allowed to go into semi-retirement.

But nobody wants to sugarcoat anything: "It's the loss of at least 50 jobs."

The wrong people are running away from us at the moment

Baumer knows about the insecurity of the employees and the bad mood.

"The specter of relocation was deliberately abandoned, the wrong people are running away from us at the moment," was his impression.

As far as "natural fluctuation" is concerned: In the past, it was very rare for an employee to have changed his or her direction.

Baumer: "Today, 75 percent of employees take the opportunity and leave voluntarily before they are shipwrecked."

There are also major cuts in the Hoerbiger drive technology area

The negotiations for the Hoerbiger drive technology division with around 670 employees have only just begun.

The upcoming end of the combustion engine is causing problems for companies like Hoerbiger, whose automotive business is largely based on classic drives.

"Hoerbiger is realigning its automotive business in order to secure the future of the Schongau location," the local newspaper said.

The change from the internal combustion engine to electromobility comes as no surprise, but sooner than the forecasts would have led to expect.


Hoerbiger is already developing products for the "mobility of the future" such as switching systems for electric drives.

The existing business of the "Division Automotive" will gradually shrink, but should continue to be profitable: "It has to finance the investments for the new developments." On the one hand, costs are to be saved or passed on to customers, on the other hand Hoerbiger speaks of "structural Adjustments” in the Schongau area.


"Most of the employees should remain employed," says Hoerbiger

What does this mean for employees?

"As of today, it is planned that the majority of the employees can remain employed in the new structure of the automotive division." And in the event that one cannot continue all jobs, Hoerbiger speaks of a "socially acceptable solution".

Detailed planning for the construction of the new developments is currently taking place, exact figures have not yet been determined.


It is unclear whether and how many jobs are ultimately at risk

It is unclear whether and how many jobs are ultimately at risk.

"So far I have not had a clear statement from the management for the location," says Group Works Councilor Herbert Baumer.

"The restlessness of the employees is absolutely understandable," says Helmut Mühlbauer, Chairman of the Works Council at Hoerbiger Antriebstechnik.

The number of voluntary resignations has almost doubled compared to previous years.

70 to 80 employees are affected by the restructuring and are to familiarize themselves with new areas of responsibility in a timely manner.

This was also discussed in detail at a works meeting in January.

"The whole industry is in upheaval, we're late, but the company is there."

A promising area is "Flow Control in Altenstadt": Hoerbiger only bought the supplier at the end of 2022

Our Schongau newsletter informs you regularly about all the important stories from your region.

The local newspapers in the Weilheim-Schongau district are represented on Instagram under “merkur_wm_sog”.

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2023-03-21

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