The restructuring events database contains factsheets with data on large-scale restructuring events reported in the principal national media and company websites in each EU Member State. This database was created in 2002.
Manufacturing Manufacture of wood and paper materials Manufacture of paper and paper products 17.21 - Manufacture of corrugated paper, paperboard and containers of paper and paperboard
100 - 261 jobs Number of planned job losses
Announcement Date
30 April 2025
Employment effect (start)
30 April 2025
Foreseen end date
31 December 2025
Description
Smurfit Westrock, a leading global provider of paper-based packaging solutions, is closing its production sites in Lübbecke and Hanau in Germany as part of a strategic reorganisation, with the loss of between 100 and 261 jobs. Around 650 jobs will be affected worldwide, particularly as a result of further plant closures in the USA.
The measure is in response to structural changes in the packaging market and aims to improve the utilisation of existing capacities, reduce costs and invest in modern processing technologies. Production will be relocated to larger sites in northern and south-west Germany.
The job cuts are to be carried out in a socially responsible manner - reconciliation of interests and social plans are planned with the aim of offering internal prospects to as many employees as possible. Negotiations are currently underway with employee representatives.
Smurfit Westrock employs around 100,000 people in over 40 countries worldwide. Other restructuring measures include the plant in St. Paul, USASmurfit Westrock 2025 - WO
Eurofound (2025), Smurfit Westrock, Closure in Germany, factsheet number 203026, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://dev.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/203026.
Digitisation and automation technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), can affect working conditions in a variety of ways and their use in the workplace raises a host of new ethical concerns.
The retail banking sector is fertile ground for studying the impacts of digitalisation on work and employment. Financial services are increasingly provided online, without the intermediary of customer-facing institutions.
European labour markets have recovered strongly from COVID-19. By the end of 2021, little more than 18 months after the start of the pandemic, employment rates in the EU were almost at pre-crisis levels.
