The key facts

  • Over seven years, the industries have already lost 350,000 jobs, with added value down by €42 billion a year
  • Another 300,000 jobs are at risk in the next two to three years, with employment potentially falling to its lowest level since 1990
  • A wage dispute is underway in parallel: IG Metall is demanding 5%, while employers are offering 1.8% through the end of 2028

A new warning from employers

Germany's metals and electrical industry could lose another 300,000 jobs over the next two to three years due to underutilized capacity and high costs. This was stated by Oliver Zander, head of the employers' association Gesamtmetall in an interview with the German newspaper Bild.

The scale of the cuts already made

According to Zander, over the past seven years the industries have already lost 350,000 jobs, costing the economy €42 billion ($47 billion) in lost added value annually. If the cuts continue, annual losses could grow by another roughly €35 billion, and employment in the industries could fall from about 3.7 million to 3.4 million people.

The reasons for the pressure on industry

According to the newspaper, German manufacturers face pressure from cheaper Chinese competition, high labor and energy costs, excessive bureaucracy, and US tariffs. The union IG Metall, for its part, also cites management mistakes among the causes, especially on the part of automotive company executives.

The wage dispute against the backdrop of the crisis

The warning came at the height of a wage dispute: IG Metall is demanding a 5% pay increase and is preparing warning strikes, while the employers' offer of 1.8% through the end of 2028 was rejected by the union as insufficient. Zander described the union's demand as