On Friday, the ThyssenKrupp Group announced restructuring plans. There was talk of operational layoffs. However, these plans are now off the table after discussions between the Executive Board and employee representatives.
Dismissals due to operational reasons should be largely avoided during the reorganization of the ThyssenKrupp Group. This agreement was reached by the Executive Board, IG Metall and the Works Council. Only in exceptional cases, they are possible, wrote Chief Human Resources Oliver Burkhard on his Twitter account.
„The agreement reached today determines the rules of the game for the corporate restructuring,“ said deputy chairman of the supervisory board and IG Metall secretary Markus Grolms. That gives the employees security. 6000 of the approximately 160,000 jobs at Thyssenkrupp are to be canceled, of which 4,000 in Germany.
Burkhard had said on Friday that operational layoffs could not be ruled out. By contrast, there had been strong criticism from the works council and IG Metall. In the steel sector, there have never been operational redundancies. „And that will not change, as long as the IG Metall has something to say here,“ said Steel Works Council leader Tekin Nasikkol in an interview with Reuters TV.
Green light for board plans
CEO Guido Kerkhoff wants to partially bring the lucrative elevator segment to the stock market and cut costs. On the part of the Supervisory Board, the go-ahead was given the green light. Supervisory Board chief Martina Merz backed Kerkhoff after presenting his plans to the Strategy, Finance and Investment Committee of the Supervisory Board.
„We will be happy to assist the Executive Board in implementing the strategic realignment,“ explained Merz. The committee had unanimously approved the plans that Kerkhoff had presented on Friday after the cancellation of the steel joint venture with Tata Steel and the spin-off of the group. The Presidium of the Supervisory Board would also recommend to the controlling body to accept Kerkhoff’s plans at the meeting on 21 May.
