Germany’s industrial base undergoes sweeping restructurings from steel to auto, with layoffs, insolvencies, and union protests; some firms achieve turnarounds amid challenges.
Worker representatives are sounding alarms across Germany’s industrial heartland as a wave of restructurings, insolvencies, and strategic exits reshapes the country’s manufacturing landscape from steel mills to auto factories.
The most stark warning comes from the steel sector. Stephan Ahr, works council chair at Saarstahl, says the project to produce green steel is at risk of collapse. Debt of 1.7 billion euros, political lobbying pressure, and the sheer cost of transformation could derail the entire saarländische industrial base, he…