Overview
- Chief executive Oliver Zander calls the situation the industry’s worst since the founding of the Federal Republic and says deindustrialization is underway.
- The sector has shed about 270,000 jobs since 2018, with total employment dropping below 3.8 million last month for the first time since 2015.
- Automotive and machinery have suffered heavy declines, and electrical manufacturing has now weakened after earlier resilience.
- Large defense contracts boosted headline orders late last year, yet Gesamtmetall says the order book remains weak once those one‑offs are excluded.
- Zander urges structural reforms including a higher retirement age, leaner administration and flexibility on working hours, while criticizing recent minimum‑wage increases.