The scale of the layoffs and capacity reduction that’ll take place at Swiss Steel is not yet known, despite announced intentions of further cutbacks.
The company underwent a wave of reductions and redundancies in late 2024 (see Kallanish passim), when the number of staff was brought down to under 7,000. According to ceo Frank Koch, the group has halved the number of employees over the years from 13,000 to 6,500 now.
This comes as Koch told Sonntagszeitung in an interview that further cutbacks are expected at the group’s German subsidiary, Deutsche Edelstahlwerke. That measure will minimise the group’s dependency on the automotive industry, he was quoted as saying.
With its upcoming measures, the loss-making group plans to return to operating profit by 2028, Koch said.
In a statement, Swiss Steel tells Kallanish that in the future the group “will have an altogether smaller and more focused set-up”.
The statement did not provide further details on the cutbacks. “As soon as the current considerations lead to tangible steps, we will communicate the process that will come,” the company says.
