Industrial companies cut 124,100 jobs in 2025. This means that the number of employees in German industry fell by 2.3 percent. This emerges from an analysis by the auditing and consulting firm Ernst & Young (EY), which is available to ZEIT. According to the EY industrial barometer, job cuts in the German industrial sector are continuing: In 2024, 56,000 jobs had already been cut; since the start of the corona pandemic, the industry has cut around five percent of jobs, which corresponds to a number of 266,500.
According to EY, the automotive industry in particular is cutting numerous jobs. 50,000 jobs were lost in 2025, or 6.5 percent of all employees. It has been building since 2019 Automotive industry a total of 111,000 of their jobs, or 13 percent. The textile and metal industries are also severely affected. Only in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries as well as in the electrical industry has the number of jobs increased by two to three percent since 2019.
According to EY, the reason for the job cuts is simply the falling sales in the industrial sectors. In 2025, the industry made a total of 1.1 percent less sales, compared to 3.5 percent in the previous year. In the metal industry alone, sales increased in 2025, after a sharp decline in previous years.
Lack of prospects for better times
According to EY, what is challenging is that… there are no better prospects in the industrythe job cuts are occurring should continue this year too. The consulting company expects that jobs in Germany could continue to be cut, particularly in the automotive industry. The reason for this is this Decline in exports to important countries such as China or the USA. In addition, I need it The transition to electromobility is taking longer than expectedwhich poses challenges for companies. This also has a structural impact on regions that make their living from the automobile industry, as not only jobs but also prospects and tax revenue are lost there.
According to EY, domestic sales have fallen even more than exports, also because too little is being invested. “There is a lack of confidence in an economic recovery in the German economy,” said Jan Brorhilker, managing partner of EY’s Assurance division. “This lack of confidence could also the new federal government with its investment package haven’t met yet.”
The The number of bankruptcies in Germany increased According to information from EY, between January and November last year, by eleven percent, that was a good 1,400, the highest level since 2013.
Ernst & Young analyzed companies with at least 50 employees. The company is one of the accounting firms with the highest turnover in the world and, according to its own information, employs a total of around 400,000 people.
