Restructuring events
European Restructuring Monitor (ERM)
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.
Evonik, a German speciality chemicals company, has announced a further planned reduction of 2,150 positions in Germany by the end of 2029. The layoffs will affect all business and administrative units, and the company will discontinue its polyester business. The job cuts are part of a global restructuring affecting a total of 3,200 positions.
The restructuring is driven by structural disadvantages in Europe, a weak economic environment, and increasing international competition from Asia. Evonik is therefore pursuing efficiency improvements, with greater digitalisation and more outsourcing. The move signals a shift towards leaner operations and tighter cost control.
The job cuts were negotiated with the trade unions and a social plan has been agreed. Compulsory redundancies are not foreseen.
Evonik employs roughly 30,000 staff worldwide. This is not the first global restructuring announced in recent times. Earlier this year the company already announced to cut 1,000 jobs globally Evonik 2026 - WO, 260 of which in Germany. This wave of redundancies is already the second of its kind; the company had already begun a major downsizing programme in 2024 Evonik 2024 - DE Evonik Industries 2024 - DE.
Eurofound (2026), Evonik, Internal restructuring in Germany, factsheet number 300610, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://dev.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/300610.
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