Downsizing
With job cuts is called the reduction of workplace -Number. This entrepreneurial measure does not necessarily have to take the form of mass layoffs , but is often implemented through natural fluctuation , especially with a view to social compatibility and political and societal acceptance .
A lack of understanding and allegations of “greed” and “irresponsibility” arouse measures to cut jobs, especially at trade unions, when the company's economic situation is still so good that cuts in personnel do not seem necessary. Employers, on the other hand, justify the downsizing in order to overcome structural problems in companies.
This discussion flared up several times in Germany in 2005 when large companies such as Continental AG or Deutsche Telekom announced redundancies, even though their business figures were positive:
- From AEG to Volkswagen , German companies have cut thousands of jobs. The German bank reported a new profit record and built at the same 6,400 points from. [...]
- The year 2005 brought the depressing realization that companies make good profits and still cut jobs - because they have no other choice. They excuse layoffs by pointing out globalization . They leave the costs of partial retirement and early retirement to the state.
For the first quarter of 2006, the Federal Statistical Office reported a decline in employment of 1.3 percent with sales growth of 9.4 percent. In 2007, the 30 largest groups represented in the Dax lost approx. 44,000 net jobs despite profits: the arithmetical increase in jobs of almost 12,000 was offset by a loss of more than 55,000. In the course of the financial crisis from 2007 onwards , the 30 DAX companies cut around 50,000 jobs worldwide, 30,000 of them in Germany.
The most extreme form of job cuts is the closure of a company. The Müllermilch dairy, for example, was criticized for relocating its production to the east and giving up entire locations. The allegation of subsidy fraud was raised again in 2008 in connection with the Nokia factory in Bochum , whose production is being relocated to Romania.
Trigema is often cited as a positive counterexample , whose owner Wolfgang Grupp explains in interviews that his company has not had any layoffs due to lack of work for over 35 years.
The effect of job cuts on the capital market or the stock exchange price of the announcing company depends on the respective cause. Downsizing as a result of a drop in demand is rated negatively, whereas restructuring and the use of synergies after mergers and acquisitions tend to result in positive, abnormal price swings. Studies show that the announcement of downsizing, regardless of the exact cause, mostly has negative effects on the stock market price, provided that these are statistically significant at all.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ FAZ.NET special of December 28, 2005; to: : FAZ infographic released in masses ( Memento of the original April 20, 2007 at the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link is automatically inserted and not yet tested. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Henrik Mortsiefer: Dax companies cut 55,000 jobs ( Memento from May 18, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) in the Tagesspiegel from March 2007, picked up by Spiegel-Online: Tens of thousands of jobs gone despite fat profits
- ↑ The secret downsizing - Welt am Sonntag No. 35 of August 30, 2009, p. 39
- ↑ Study overview ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on announcement effects of downsizing
