Evonik Layoffs: Germany-Based Specialty Chemicals Producer Announced To Lay Off 2,000 Employees by 2026 To Save Costs, Says Report
Evonik, a German specialty chemicals company, said there is no sign of recovery and announced to cut 2,000 jobs worldwide. Majority of the Evonik Group Layoffs 2024 will be from Germany.
Mumbai, March 4: German chemicals producer Evonik has announced that it will cut 2,000 jobs globally by 2026 to reduce costs. The Evonik layoffs will help the company reduce around $433 million (or €400 million) costs annually. As per a report, Evonik showed no sign of a recovery in 2024 and decided to let go of some of its employees.
According to a report by Reuters, Evonik will lay off around 1,500 employees from Germany only. The company manufactures products useful in animal feed and diapers and Pfizer and BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine. The report said that the company expected 2024 adjusted EBITDA earning in the range of 1.7 billion to 2.0 billion euros ($1.84 billion - $2.17 billion)." Indian AI Startups: Centre Says Permission To Launch New Artificial Intelligence Models Will Only Apply to Big Tech Platform and Social Media Subsidiaries, Not Startups.
According to the report, Evonik CEO Christian Kullmann said, "What we are currently experiencing are not cyclical fluctuations, but massive, consequential changes of our economic environment". The report further said that the chemical companies have been under pressure for over a year. It mentioned that they were forced to reduce their inventories due to the lower demand from industrial clients.
This compares with a 2023 result of 1.66 billion euros versus 1.7 billion expected by analysts. The 2024 guidance is close to consensus and should reassure investors, JP Morgan said in a note. "What we are currently experiencing are not cyclical fluctuations, but massive, consequential changes of our economic environment," CEO Christian Kullmann said in a statement. Chemical companies have been under pressure for over a year as they were forced to reduce inventories on lower demand from their industrial clients. Central Government To Launch Global Standard ‘Bharat Semiconductor Research Centre’ Soon: MoS IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar.
The report said that despite the measures, Evonik plans to maintain its annual dividend at 1.17 euros per share, the same as the previous year. Last year, Evonik layoffs were announced in pet food units to be effective from 2025, saving €200 million worldwide. From 2025 onwards, the company announced that it would cut 200 jobs worldwide.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 04, 2024 04:06 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).