IG Metall believes that the crisis in German shipbuilding has continued to worsen. According to a works council survey commissioned by the union and presented on Friday, around 2,600 more jobs were lost in the industry in 2022 within a year.
With a total of just over 14,000 employees, a low point has been reached. Never before have so few people worked in shipbuilding on the coast between Lower Saxony and the Oder, according to IG Metall. In northern Germany, according to the information, every sixth job in the industry was deleted.
In Hamburg every fourth job gone
In Hamburg it is even one in four. The Pella Sietas shipyard in Hamburg-Neuenfelde is insolvent, a large job cuts at Blohm + Voss on Steinwerder – according to the survey, only a good 1,300 people in Hamburg work in shipbuilding. The number of jobs in Mecklenburg-Vormmern fell even further as a result of the insolvency of the MV shipyards. More than half of all jobs there have disappeared.
IG Metall: Federal government asked
The industry is now threatened in its substance, said the district manager of the IG Metall coast, Daniel Friedrich. This downward spiral must be stopped as soon as possible. The federal government is also required to do this. When it comes to maintaining shipbuilding expertise, it’s not a question of “whether we’re going to continue a tradition.” It’s also about “geopolitical ability to act,” he warned, given China’s increasing dominance as a shipbuilding nation over the years. The federal government has announced several large orders for naval and research vessels. According to Friedrich, speed is required.
42 companies took part in the survey
To take stock at the shipyards, IG Metall had works councils questioned for the 32nd time. Employee representatives from 42 shipyards took part in the survey conducted by the Bremen Agency for Structure and Personnel Development Ltd. (AgS).