TK Elevator to cut 500 jobs at German plant

500 of the 800 jobs at TK Elevator's German lift plant in Neuhausen are to be cut within the next two years. The company speaks of a "realignment" of the lift plant, the local Esslingen chapter of the trade union IG Metall calls it a "watershed moment".

According to TK Elevator, the remaining 300 jobs will be safeguarded until 2030. The Neuhausen lift plant has already been under considerable pressure since 2017 due to the changing market, the group explained the decision in a press release.

TK Elevator emphasizes that the current location is associated with high structural costs. Management and employee representatives have been striving for some time to "position the site for the long term with new initiatives". However, with the withdrawal from the Russian market at the beginning of 2022, one of the central sales regions for products from Neuhausen has "unexpectedly collapsed", the company states.

High material costs, challenging supply chains and volatile macroeconomic developments further burdened the site's prospects. "A reassessment of the current situation and realignment of the site was imperative," says Christoph Buss, Executive Vice President Product & Supply Chain at TK Elevator.

Drives, systems, controls and display elements for the EOX lift platform will, however, continue to be manufactured in a new plant nearby. The spare parts business will also continue to be bundled, expanded and modernised at this location, TK Elevator tells LIFTjournal. 

"Mismanagement and losses"

The Esslingen chapter of trade union IG Metall expressed marked criticism of the decision. "After years of mismanagement and losses, TK Elevator is planning harsh cuts in employment," the union said in a press release. It was only in 2020 that a future collective agreement had been negotiated because of the departure of the lift division from the thyssenkrupp group, which, among other things, guaranteed job security until 2027.

Now, however, the employers' plan is to make massive staff cuts with "a lot of money". Money does not seem to play a role here. After years of mismanagement, the plant is to be brought back into the profit zone", the IG Metall Esslingen press release states. "In the process, everything that seems unprofitable at first glance is being cut."

According to IG Metall Esslingen, the works council and IG Metall had demanded consistent improvements to the structures at the plant and still see opportunities now: "The management's plans are short-sighted. There are better alternatives to keep more jobs at the plant. We will fight for that."

More information: tkelevator.com
esslingen.igm.de