German auto supplier ZF Friedrichshafen to cut up to 15,000 jobs

• ZF, which helps carmakers develop gearboxes and hybrid drivetrains, said in an email to employees that half of the 12,000-15,000 job cuts would be in Germany.
• "These losses threaten our financial independence," he wrote. "The crisis will last longer, and even in 2022 we will fall noticeably short of our targets for sales."

FRANKFURT: German car parts supplier ZF Friedrichshafen plans to reduce the workforce by up to 15,000 jobs, or around 10%, by 2025 as a result of a slump in demand, according to a memo on Thursday.

ZF, which helps carmakers develop gearboxes and hybrid drivetrains, said in an email to employees that half of the 12,000-15,000 job cuts would be in Germany.

The company employed 147,797 people at the end of 2019, according to its annual report.

"As a result of the demand freeze on the customer side, our company will make heavy financial losses in 2020," chief executive officer Wolf-Henning Scheider wrote in the email memo that was seen by Reuters.

"These losses threaten our financial independence," he wrote. "The crisis will last longer, and even in 2022 we will fall noticeably short of our targets for sales."

A spokesman declined to comment.

German media including DPA and Suedkurier first reported the planned cuts.