Voith Group is reviewing its organisational setup worldwide to increase competitiveness in a challenging market environment. As part of this process, the German engineering company plans to cut up to 2,500 jobs, most of them in Germany.
The group points to structural disadvantages at its domestic sites, including high energy and labour costs, complex regulatory requirements and a high level of bureaucracy.
"Voith is facing major challenges on the global market, which is why we have carried out a comprehensive strategic analysis of our business. It is clear that we can only survive and grow in the long term if we can take our future into our own hands. We must have the necessary financial resources for investments and make our organization as efficient and competitive as possible. Strengthening the organization, accelerating innovation and taking advantage of growth opportunities – we must now tackle this together, not least in order to secure Germany as a business location," said Dirk Hoke, CEO of the Voith Group.
According to the company, the planned structural adjustments aim to simplify processes, shorten decision-making paths, strengthen market orientation and focus investments more clearly on future areas such as services, digital solutions, growth regions and new technologies.
In the coming weeks, Voith will discuss and assess specific next steps together with employee representatives as part of the legally required information, consultation and participation process. Voith Group currently reports sales of of €5.2bn and has around 22,000 employees in locations in over 60 countries. The company's activities are organised in three divisions: Voith Hydro, Voith Paper, and Voith Turbo.
