Analysis: Business model under pressure: German corporations cut the most jobs
In Dax companies, the number of employees is falling by 47,700 over the course of a year. Things are going better in the large neighbouring European countries. But there are also glimmers of hope in Germany.
Germany's top companies have reduced their workforce by 47,700 or 1.2% to 4.06 million employees worldwide as of the end of 2025, according to a study by EY-Parthenon. This decline is the largest among major European countries, with French companies seeing a 0.2% decrease, while Italian and Spanish companies increased their workforce by 0.9%.
The study attributes the decline to factors such as US tariffs, high production and energy costs, weak global economic growth, overregulation, and intense competition from China. EY-Parthenon partner Constantin Gall notes that Germany's large corporations have long benefited from free trade, open markets, and low energy costs, but this era is now over.
Written by urgent.news from Handelsblatt's report — not a translation of it. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
