Germany’s industrial sector is shedding around 15,000 jobs every month, the Federation of German Industries (BDI) has warned, describing the situation as critical.
BDI Director General Tanja Gönner told the German press agency dpa last week that the country’s manufacturing base faces a “critical” period marked by declining competitiveness.
High energy costs, bureaucracy, skilled-labour shortages and external pressures, including US trade policies and Chinese market distortions, are accelerating the job cuts by companies.
“The situation for industry is critical,” she said, while insisting the process can still be stopped if the right policy conditions for investment and innovation are created.
Figures compiled by consultancy EY from Federal Statistical Office data show a serious the decline.
Industry shed about 124,100 jobs in 2025 alone (a 2.3 per cent drop, nearly twice the 2024 figure) and roughly 266,000 positions since the pre-crisis year 2019.
Broader employment also contracted. In the first quarter of 2026 the number of people in work fell by 157,000 year-on-year and by 486,000 compared with the previous quarter.
Much of the reduction is occurring quietly. Companies are increasingly leaving vacant posts unfilled rather than making formal redundancies, a pattern long noted by the ifo Institute and confirmed by a recent Bertelsmann Foundation study.
Job advertisements on Indeed stood 39 per cent below their 2022 peak in July 2026, while entry-level vacancies for young people fell 42 per cent in 2025 compared with the five-year average.
Gönner insisted the gradual deindustrialisation can still be halted.
“I am convinced that if we do our homework, we will have every opportunity again. Innovation has long been a top priority for many companies,” she said.
However, longer-term risks are rising with artificial intelligence.
An ifo survey found that more than a third of industrial firms expect AI-related job cuts within five years; the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) estimates up to 800,000 positions could disappear over 15 years, while McKinsey projects that up to three million jobs may require major reskilling or career changes by 2030.
The BDI represents roughly 100,000 companies that together employ more than eight million people.
German sports carmaker Porsche is reportedly planning to cut between 5,000 and 6,000 jobs by 2035 as it attempts to reduce costs and respond to a sharp deterioration in its business. https://t.co/laHNY458ZI
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) July 23, 2026
