Red alarm level: 50,000 jobs away in the Baden-Württemberg industry!

Red alarm level: 50,000 jobs away in the Baden-Württemberg industry!

In the Baden-Württemberg metal and electrical industry, the location becomes increasingly precarious. As ZVW have already had to go down almost 14,000 jobs by the end of April 2025. A worrying trend that is also evident in the historical context: A total of 50,000 jobs have been deleted since the high in 2019. The industry currently has a total of 957,300 employees, while production in April decreased again despite a better order situation - by 4.5 percent compared to the same month.

The situation does not seem to improve so quickly either. The chief managing director of the Südwestmetall employers' association, Oliver Barta, makes it clear that the negative personnel plans have slight improvements, but the industry remains strongly required. This applies in particular to mechanical engineering and the car industry, where 4,800 and 3,200 jobs have been lost. It does not look rosy in metal production either: there was a decline in 3,900 employees.

a cloudy working atmosphere

The challenges have become anything but smaller. According to Welt , the industry should expect further job cuts over the next five years. The job cuts have been a reality for ten months now, and the order utilization is only 75 percent on average. Stefan Wolf, President of the Total Metal Association, calls for the necessary economic measures to get the economy going again - including the reduction of bureaucracy and a corporate tax reform.

Despite a slight increase in order incoming by 8.5 percent, the situation is tense. So far, companies cannot benefit from this improvement. In the first quarter of 2025, some economic indicators were scored by advanced effects as a result of an international customs escalation, but the competitive situation for Germany remains tense, especially in international comparison.

stability problems and outlook

The declining numbers are probably not the only problem child. total metal reports that the M+e-industry already recorded the eighth recession quartal in the first quarter of 2025 due to a decline of 0.1 percent to the previous quarter. Despite less than pessimistic corporate sites, expectations still develop in the recession area.

The future prospects seem to be overshadowed through uncertainties, especially in connection with the customs conflict and reports on scarcity with important raw materials such as rare earths. All the more it becomes clear that the industry not only masters the challenge inside, but also has to sharpen the view for the geopolitical influences so as not to slide even deeper into the crisis.

In the light of these developments, it remains to be hoped that those responsible will make the right decisions to get the economy in Baden-Württemberg back on course. The next time could be crucial for whether the waves are smoothing or the problems are still being worsened.