Affecting employment Continental Group criticizes the rapid progress of electrification

Recently, according to overseas media reports, Continental Group warned that the electrification process is too fast, which has brought unemployment pressure and harmed people's lives. Ariane Reinhart, head of human resources at Continental Group, said that although the formulation of environmental regulations is necessary, but the progress has been so fast, 'we cannot remedy employment from the aspect of employment.'

This Hanover-based parts manufacturer is struggling to adapt to the technological changes in the automotive industry. Due to a painful reorganization and a plan to close the entire factory, 30,000 jobs worldwide are at risk Among them, 13,000 jobs, including Germany, are at risk. According to statistics, Continental has a total of 232,000 employees worldwide, of which 59,000 are in Germany. Human resources president Ariane pointed out that the employment density of electric vehicles is lower than that of the traditional automobile industry.

The financial report shows that in 2019, Continental’s annual revenue was 44.5 billion euros, slightly higher than the 44.4 billion euros in 2018; however, adjusted profit before interest and taxes fell by 22% to 3.2 billion euros. ; The operating profit of the Continental Group's automotive group dropped from 1.9 billion euros in 2019 to 2.1 billion euros.

As early as May of this year, Continental CEO Elmar Degenhart proposed a cost-cutting plan that involved strong sanctions. In September, Continental issued a statement stating that it would accelerate the structural adjustment plan launched in 2019, with the goal of saving 1 billion euros per year from 2023.

Editor's comment:

As the EU has become more stringent in terms of carbon emission requirements, European automakers have to accelerate the pace of transformation. However, such a transformation has brought certain pressure to component suppliers. Previously, Continental had made a statement on job adjustments, saying that it was affected by multiple issues such as the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the sluggish global automobile production, and the intensified economic crisis. At present, the bottleneck in the production chain caused by the 'shortage of chip supply' has also become a major issue that cannot be ignored in the transformation of the automotive industry.