A number of large companies in Europe have announced in recent months that they will lay off hundreds or thousands of employees in the context of anemic economic growth, declining purchasing power and specific problems affecting their sectors of activity, Reuters reports.

Preliminary data released on Tuesday by Eurostat, the European Union’s statistics agency, showed inflation in the eurozone fell from 4.3% in the previous month to 2.9% in October, hitting a two-year low. Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, fell to 4.2% in October from 4.5% in September.

But analysts at Eurostat also announced that they expect the eurozone economy to grow by just 0.7% this year, 1% in 2024 and 1.5% in 2025. The German economy once again recorded a quarterly decline of 0.1% of GDP. , again failing to emerge from the recession it entered in the first quarter of 2023.

Latvia registered the highest economic growth in the Eurozone over the past 3 months at 0.6%, followed by Belgium and Spain with 0.5% and 0.3% respectively.

In other words, the repeated hikes in the key interest rate by the European Central Bank (ECB) to keep inflation under control have paid off, but at the cost of reducing economic growth in an environment where companies have already been hit by reduced consumption as a result of galloping price rises over the past two years. .

In fact, the ECB announced this very Thursday that the eurozone is unlikely to register a new consumption “boom” because the savings accumulated during the COVID-19 pandemic are mostly owned by wealthy households.

“Those who hoped that money saved during the pandemic would support a consumption boom in the near term may have been disappointed. This is very relevant when it comes to analyzing factors influencing inflation and how monetary policy should respond,” said Niccolò Battistini and Johannes Gareis, authors of the study on which the ECB’s assessment is based.

Given these and other special circumstances that affect each sector of the economy differently, take a look at the list of major companies that have announced layoffs in recent months.

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Companies in the automotive sector

• Continental: The auto parts supplier plans to close its German factory in Gifhorn by the end of 2027. In May, the company’s management announced that 450 of the plant’s 900 workers would be affected in the first phase;

• Stellantis: On June 28, the international carmaker announced plans to close its transmission plant in Austria, laying off 300 employees;

• Volkswagen: The German auto giant said on Oct. 27 it would cut 2,000 jobs at Cariad, its automotive software company;

• Autoliv: On June 8, the Swedish manufacturer of airbags and seat belts announced plans to lay off about 8,000 employees. As part of the restructuring plan, the company laid off 320 of its employees in France on October 30.

Food, retail and consumer goods enterprises

• Carrefour: On June 26, the French retailer announced plans to cut 979 jobs in France, relying on “voluntary” departures;

• Electrolux: On Oct. 27, the Swedish home appliance maker said it is expanding its cost-cutting and efficiency plans, affecting 3,000 employees;

• Husqvarna: On Oct. 20, the Swedish power tool maker announced it was cutting about 300 jobs, adding to the 1,000 layoffs announced last October;

• Wilco: On September 5, the administrator of the British home goods store announced 1,300 job cuts. This was reported by the financial consulting company PwC, which manages the affairs of the British retailer after it became bankrupt;

• Fiskars: On September 13, the Finnish garden goods maker announced plans to cut around 400 jobs to “simplify the organizational structure” of the company;

• Anheuser-Busch: The brewer is set to lay off hundreds of employees at its US offices, according to CNN, which exclusively broke the news on July 27.

Placement in industry and mechanical engineering

• Varta: The German battery maker said on June 30 that it would cut 88 jobs as part of a voluntary layoff program;

• SSAB: The Swedish steel producer announced the suspension of work at two of its plants in Finland. The union talks affected about 800 employees, but company officials said the exact number of layoffs would be determined based on demand and “local circumstances”;

• Nolato: The Swedish manufacturer and distributor of polymer systems announced in August that it would lay off up to 500 of its employees in China;

• Marshalls: The British construction and roofing company announced on July 31 that it was going to lay off 250 of its employees.

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Accessibility is also in the technical sector

• Nokia: On October 19, the Finnish telco announced a massive restructuring and cost-cutting plan that involves cutting 14,000 jobs over the next few years due to falling sales;

• Vodafone: The UK telco reached an agreement with unions on June 15 to cut 1,000 jobs in Italy and another 11,000 worldwide over the next 3 years;

• BT: Britain’s biggest broadband provider announced in May that it would cut 55,000 jobs by 2030.

Other European companies are preparing to lay off employees

• BNP Paribas: The Polish branch of the French bank announced on October 16 that it will lay off up to 900 of its employees over the next 3 years;

• Deutsche Bank: The German bank is developing plans to lay off 10% of its 17,000 employees over the next few years, according to German media reports on June 23;

• Rolls-Royce: The British jet engine maker announced on Oct. 17 that it will cut up to 2,500 jobs as part of the company’s new CEO’s plan to streamline operations;

• UBS: On August 31, Switzerland’s largest bank announced that it would cut 3,000 jobs in Switzerland as a result of its takeover of Credit Suisse.

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