BERLIN, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- Due to the transition towards electric mobility, Schaeffler will cut a total of 1,300 jobs worldwide by 2026, the German automotive and industrial supplier said on Tuesday. 300 of these job losses will occur abroad, Schaeffler said.
The company said that the accelerated transition towards electrification in the automotive drive technologies segment is leading to overcapacity in products for internal combustion engine vehicles, "hence the need for further adjustments."
The measures are expected to result in annual savings of up to 100 million euros (100 million U.S. dollars). The company, which currently employs almost 83,000 people globally, had already announced the reduction of 4,400 jobs in 2020.
"We are moving into an environment where being the technology leader is no longer enough," said Matthias Zink, CEO of Automotive Technologies. Competitive cost structures to further accelerate the transformation process are critical, he said.
Around three in four of the jobs to be cut are in administration, as well as in the area of research and development for internal combustion engines. Only one in four of the job losses will be in production, the company said.
Although the advent of electric vehicles is also creating new jobs, a study by Boston Consulting Group and German think tank Agora Verkehrswende has found that around 180,000 jobs will be lost in Germany alone by 2030 due to the transition.
For Schaeffler, results in the first nine months of the year were still improving. Revenues at constant currency grew 9 percent year-on-year to 11.8 billion euros, according to company figures published on Tuesday.
All regions contributed to revenue growth. In Europe and the Americas, revenues increased by 11.2 and 11.8 percent respectively in the first nine months, while revenues in the Greater China region increased by 2.7 percent. In the third quarter, revenues in China rose by 25 percent year-on-year.
"The Greater China region is of paramount importance to the Schaeffler Group, both as a sales market and as a production location," a spokesperson for Schaeffler told Xinhua on Tuesday.
Schaeffler is operating 10 plants and two R&D centers in the Greater China region, where it employs around 13,000 people. The region accounts for approximately one-quarter of the Schaeffler Group's total revenues. (1 euro = 1 U.S. dollar)
