Worrying news emerges from a recent ifo survey: according to the survey, 41% of steel and metal processing companies will lay off employees.
"Almost every second company has to let go of skilled workers due to the business situation," says Christian Vietmeyer, Managing Director of the German Steel and Metal Processing Association (WSM). Vietmeyer criticizes the structural crisis caused by politicians as the cause of the impending wave of redundancies. For the first time in decades, an economic downturn can no longer be regulated by temporary workers and the instrument of short-time working. The drastic wave will affect people with well-paid jobs, according to the WSM. "The redundancies are about industrial jobs at all qualification levels," says Holger Ade, WSM Head of Industrial and Energy Policy.
The business climate in the steel and metal processing industry is also a cause for concern: 53% of companies are already feeling the dramatic economic situation at first hand, 47% are expecting further declines. As a result, 19% are already working short-time and a further 33% will start doing so in the next quarter, the WSM summarizes the mood. However, the business climate index surprisingly rose slightly over the course of October. In addition, following a decline in growth in the second quarter, the economy grew by 0.2% in the third quarter, contrary to expectations.
