FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - The supplier Continental plans to close two automotive sites in Hesse and cut a total of 1200 jobs. The Schwalbach and Wetzlar sites will be closed by the end of 2025 and work will be gradually relocated to Frankfurt and Babenhausen, the company announced on Tuesday. Some of the workforce will then be relocated. The remaining jobs are to be cut in a "socially responsible" manner.

Jobs are also to be cut or relocated in Frankfurt and Babenhausen. A total of 2300 of the current 8000 employees in the Rhine-Main region will be affected, 1100 of whom will be relocated. The restructuring will affect both administration and research and development.

"With these measures, we are improving our cost structure and, in particular, strengthening cooperation in research and development," said Automotive Board Member Philipp von Hirschheydt according to the press release. Frankfurt, already the headquarters of the Automotive division, is to be expanded into a competence center for vehicle software and architectures, while Babenhausen will become a pure location for displays and cockpits. Group CEO Nikolai Setzer had announced at the end of 2023 that the segment would be separated organizationally in order to be able to examine possible options. From the entry of an investor or a joint venture to a sale or exit, anything is possible.

Job cuts in Frankfurt too

According to a spokesperson, the largest job cuts will not take place at the two locations that are to be eliminated, but in Frankfurt, the Conti division's largest location in Hesse with 4700 employees to date. 630 jobs are to be cut there. Around a third of the jobs in Schwalbach and Wetzlar will be lost with the closure. Conti intends to keep the remaining employees in Frankfurt or Babenhausen. Conti currently employs 930 people in Schwalbach and 460 in Wetzlar.

Conti intends to avoid compulsory redundancies. "Our aim is to make these redundancies as socially responsible as possible," a spokesperson told the German Press Agency. "We will do everything we can to find good and individual solutions together with our social partners and the works council." Talks on this will now begin. Early retirement programs, partial retirement and qualification programs for new jobs with other employers are conceivable.

The job cuts are part of the consolidation program announced in February for the weakening division. Worldwide, 7150 jobs are to be cut and locations merged. Administrative costs are to be reduced by 400 million euros per year from 2025 and expenditure on research and development is to fall below ten percent of turnover by 2028./fjo/DP/ngu