Overview
- A court-appointed Einigungsstelle issued a multi-million-euro social plan on Thursday that defines severance and enables mass dismissals for about 2,100 Erfurt logistics employees.
- Zalando confirmed the Erfurt site will close at the end of September and said it has set aside €80 million in provisions to cover severance and related shutdown costs.
- The company refused to fund a transfergesellschaft to finance temporary re-employment support, a decision the works council condemned as "beschämend" or shameful.
- Many fixed-term contracts were not renewed in recent months so roughly 1,800 staff hold permanent contracts and about 300 were on contracts that will expire; the regional employment agency says placing lower-skilled workers will be difficult and will deploy a 14-person transformation team from August.
- Erfurt was a formative logistics hub for Zalando and its closure, justified by a Europe-wide realignment after the About You deal and the opening of a new Gießen site, has prompted sustained worker protests and political criticism and could strain the local labor market.