Wacker Chemie announces savings program with job cuts
Wacker Chemie wants to reduce its costs by over 300 million euros per year through a cost-cutting program. To this end, over 1,500 jobs are to be cut worldwide, most of them in Germany. A project team is currently working on measures to achieve this goal.
In view of the tense business situation, Wacker launched a project in October under the name Pace to make significant cost savings in the production environment and in administration. As already announced when the Q3 figures were presented, corresponding measures are currently being developed. The focus is primarily on fixed production costs. The company has now defined the target figure for the planned savings: According to this, more than 300 million euros are to be saved annually in future, with half of the savings resulting from a reduction in personnel. More than 1,500 jobs are expected to be cut worldwide as part of the planned reduction. The majority of the jobs are to be cut at the Group's German locations. Implementation of the measures should be completed by the end of 2027.
Wacker wants to become more competitive through savings
"The measures to achieve our savings targets are currently being developed," says Wacker CEO Christian Hartel. "The aim is to reduce our costs to a competitive level by making savings. This will put Wacker back on the road to success." At the same time, Hartel points out the need for competitive framework conditions. "Particularly in Germany, energy prices that are far too high and bureaucratic obstacles continue to act as a central brake on successful development in the chemical industry." Like many other companies in the chemical industry, Wacker is under economic pressure. When presenting its Q3 figures, the Group had already announced that its annual result for 2025 would be negative.
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