Porsche and Wacker Chemie have announced plans to slash a combined 2,900 jobs in the latest blow to Germany’s struggling industrial economy. The luxury car giant confirmed it will cut more than 500 jobs and shut down three subsidiaries as collapsing profits, weak Chinese demand and rising US tariffs pile pressure on the business.
Meanwhile Munich-based chemicals firm Wacker Chemie has agreed plans to cut around 2,400 positions — roughly 10% of its global workforce — as part of a major cost-saving drive. The twin announcements add to mounting fears over the health of Germany’s manufacturing sector, which has been battered by soaring energy costs, falling exports and weakening industrial demand.
Porsche said the cuts formed part of a “strategic realignment” designed to refocus the company on its core operations.
The losses will affect staff at Cellforce Group in Kirchentellinsfurt, Porsche eBike Performance in Ottobrunn and Zagreb, and software specialist Cetitec in Pforzheim and Croatia.
Michael Leiters, chairman of Porsche’s executive board, said: “We must refocus on our core business. This is the indispensable foundation for a successful strategic realignment.
“This forces us to make painful cuts – including our subsidiaries.”
Roughly 350 jobs will disappear from Porsche eBike Performance after the company decided to abandon its high-performance electric bike drive systems business because of “fundamentally changed market conditions”.
Another 50 roles will go at battery technology company Cellforce, which Porsche said no longer had a “sufficiently viable” future under its revised strategy.
Cetitec, which develops software for Porsche and the wider Volkswagen Group, is also set to close, putting around 90 jobs at risk across Germany and Croatia.
The cuts come after a disastrous year for Porsche financially.
Sales revenue dropped 9.5% to €36.27bn (£31bn) in 2025, while operating profit collapsed by more than 92% to €413m (£353m).
The carmaker blamed delayed EV launches, battery-related costs, weaker demand in China and higher US import tariffs.
Deliveries in China fell by more than 20% during the first quarter of 2026 alone.
Separately, Wacker Chemie said it had reached an agreement to reduce its workforce by around 2,400 employees as it battles weak demand and deteriorating conditions across the chemicals sector.
The company has faced mounting pressure from sluggish industrial production and persistently high operating costs in Germany, which have increasingly damaged the competitiveness of manufacturers.
Germany’s once-dominant industrial sector has endured a torrid period over the past two years, with major firms across automotive, chemicals and engineering announcing factory closures, redundancies and restructuring programmes.
Economists have repeatedly warned that Germany risks long-term industrial decline unless energy costs fall and global demand recovers.
The latest wave of cuts is likely to intensify pressure on Chancellor Friedrich Merz as Europe’s biggest economy struggles to regain momentum.
