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On Germany and the recent job cuts:

I’m copy/pasting this from another forum I frequent (mostly financial). One of the members is German and has done some digging. I’ll insert a few alarming tidbits:

Putting together some numbers for recent job cut announcements in Germany. I tried to get the figures for the German operations only. Some of the cuts are not immediate. Notice: German labour law works in a way that you cannot hire when you fire. Some cuts come along with plant closures. All very bad news.

Michelin: plant closure in Bamberg, 860 layoffs
Schaeffler: 700 + 1,300 job cuts
Thomas Cook: 2,000 jobs at risk in Germany / 140,000 German tourists affected by bankruptcy of Thomas Cook UK
Deutsche Bank: 9,000 of 18,000 job cuts to hit Germany
Continental: 5,000-7,000 job cuts (employs 62,000 in Germany)
Commerzbank: some 3,400 job cuts
BMW: 5,500 workers to be put on part-time employment
Thyssen-Krupp: “significant” job cuts coming
Krones: 300-400 out of 9,000 employees
Gea: 800
L’Tur: 100
British American Tobacco: 180, after 950 jobs had been cut in 2016 already

Suppliers for these companies will surely be hit just as hard if not harder.

I have also noticed that European Airlines are in trouble (Condor in Germany, Alitalia in Italy, one from France and one from another EU country).

Update 16 Oct:
Voith: closing 3 plants, some relocations, between 230 and 420 affected
Kettler: plant closure with 400 layoffs

Update 19 Oct:
Brose: 2,000 job cuts
US to impose more/higher tariffs on some EU goods

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In the past few days/weeks, in Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier has come to the front. You would usually expect Angela Merkel (prime minister) to be in that spotlight. Steinmeier is Bundespräsident (head of state). It is not his job to be involved in daily politics. I would not rule out, he is involved behind the scenes already. You may want to watch him, not Merkel when the going gets tough.
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