Audi prepares for massive layoff campaign in Germany - week 48 2019 edition
Schaeffler expands in Szombathely. FCA-PSA on the verge of becoming reality. Let’s recap what last week brought in Hungary’s automotive sector.
Schaeffler is building a new plant in Szombathely with a HUF 23.5 billion investment, supported with a HUF 5 billion non-refundable government subsidy and creating 150 jobs in the process.
The Mór-based unit of Rába Járműalkatrész Kft. has signed a partnership agreement on the supply of automotive seating systems.
The joint project of Audi Hungaria and E.ON, which will result in Europe’s largest photovoltaic rooftop installation built on the roof of the German car maker’s two Győr-based logistics centres, has reached a milestone.
Lufthansa Systems Hungária will establish its software development department in Szeged. According to the company’s plans, the IT division will launch its new unit with 10-15 employees, ramping up its headcount by 15-20 people a year.
The foundation-stone laying ceremony of a new industrial park was held on Kaposvár last week, scheduled to open its gates to businesses in the spring of 2020.
By 2022, the entire KISS double-decker motortrain fleet will be in operation in the Budapest area suburban railway network, with the exception of the Lajosmizse line.
Stadler has plans to manufacture the final batch of the MÁV order in cooperation with Dunakeszi Járműjavító Kft., and has also made a takeover bid on its partner company.
Audi has announced to terminate 9,500 jobs at its German-based plans, in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm. The car maker is planning to complete the layoff campaign by 2025.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and France-based Peugeot (PSA) are expected to conclude their merger agreement in just a few weeks, thus creating the world’s fourth largest automotive group.
The cooperation between Daimler and the Chinese BAIC Group began years ago and reached a new milestone when this summer the Chinese giant acquired a 5 percent share in the German car maker.
BMW is luring employees with a career programme for experts. The campaign is based on career progression without traditional career steps, using leadership and personal responsibility.
Although the latest data shows high employment rates and low unemployment in Hungary, further improvement is hindered by a lack of trained labour reserve and deteriorating external factors.
We can already witness labour shortages in certain fields, resulting in an influx of migrant workers. Outplacement and temporary employment firms, mostly engaging in brokering foreign labour from nations outside of the European Union, have prospered in recent years.
Although manufacturing companies like to avoid acknowledging this phenomenon, it is an open secret that shortages in Hungarian labour are often substituted by foreign workers from Ukraine, Serbia, Montenegro and even more remote countries.
A programme on the reform of the labour market has been launched in Fejér County in close harmony with employer requirements.
Hungarian investment volumes increased by 14.8 percent in the third quarter of 2019 from the same period of the previous year.
In the first nine months, investment volumes grew by 18 percent year on year as opposed to the 20.2 percent growth registered in the first half of the year. Seasonally adjusted investment volumes increased by 3.1 percent year on year in the period between July and September, according to the latest data published by the Central Statistical Office (KSH).
Although Hungary has high hopes in achieving the requirements of intelligent transport systems, we are still not participating in sufficient R&D initiatives, which could hurt our competitiveness.
