Unimicron to close circuit board plant in Geldern – 240 jobs go
The Taiwanese circuit board maker is leaving the Lower Rhine. In Speyer, the dispute over 600 Mann+Hummel jobs escalates. Schirmer in Verl builds a new hall.
Geldern (North Rhine-Westphalia): Unimicron Germany is closing its printed circuit board plant. About 240 staff will lose their jobs, and production winds down in the first half of 2027. The firm cites losses and a tough market. It is a voluntary liquidation, not an insolvency (Radio K.W., 29 Oct). The parent group is providing up to EUR 35m for remaining orders, severance and debts (Evertiq, 29 Oct).
Speyer (Rhineland-Palatinate): Mann+Hummel is sticking to its plan to close the plant by end-2028, affecting about 600 jobs, as announced in April. Talks on a social plan have failed, and a conciliation board is now to decide. IG Metall is preparing a strike (ad-hoc-news, 29 Oct). In Lower Saxony, McCain has put its plans for a fries plant in Mehrum on hold; up to 650 jobs had been planned there (top agrar, 27 Oct).
On the other side, machine builder Schirmer in Verl, a Beckhoff subsidiary, is making the biggest investment in its history: a 19,000 square metre hall and a 4,200 square metre office building. No amount was given (Neue Westfälische, 29 Oct).
Listed investments total EUR 4.95bn, with 560 job cuts stated (own calculation; the Sanofi plant of 19 Oct has dropped out of the period). There was no German economic data on 29 Oct. Labour market, GDP and inflation figures follow today.
| State / region | Company / project | Sector | Amount (EUR m) | Jobs (− = cuts) | Date / source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Rhine-Westphalia (Geldern, Kleve district) | Unimicron Germany – circuit board plant closes; voluntary liquidation from 1 Nov | Electronics | – | −240 | NEW: Radio K.W., 29 Oct 2026, 15:41; Evertiq, 29 Oct; wind-down H1 2027; up to EUR 35m from parent for liquidation – not an investment |
| Rhineland-Palatinate (Speyer) | Mann+Hummel – plant closure by end-2028; social plan talks fail, conciliation board; IG Metall prepares strike | Auto supplier / filters | – | – | NEW: ad-hoc-news (boerse-global), 29 Oct 2026, 00:39; about 600 jobs, announced 16/17 Apr 2026 (City of Speyer) – not in total |
| North Rhine-Westphalia (Verl, Gütersloh district) | Schirmer (Beckhoff) – 19,000 m² production hall and 4,200 m² office building; largest investment in company history | Machinery | – | – | NEW: Neue Westfälische, 29 Oct 2026, 09:11; amount and jobs not stated |
| Saxony (Zwickau) | Volkswagen – circular economy centre: car dismantling ramps up | Cars / recycling | 90 | 100 | dpa-AFX, 28 Oct 2026; 'up to EUR 90m'; 100 jobs at start; investment first announced on 21 Jan 2026, when it was said to secure 1,000 jobs |
| Bavaria (Dietenhofen, Middle Franconia) | Horst Brandstätter Group (Playmobil) – former plant to become 100 MW data centre campus | Data centres | – | – | dpa-AFX, 28 Oct 2026; amount and timeline not stated |
| Berlin (HQ); North Rhine-Westphalia (Troisdorf) | Trench Group – GE Vernova (US) buys it for about USD 9bn | Grid equipment | – | – | GE Vernova, 28 Oct 2026; acquisition, not an investment – not in total |
| Baden-Württemberg (Stuttgart) and nationwide | Mercedes-Benz – new voluntary severance scheme for non-production staff from December | Cars | – | – | dpa-AFX, 28 Oct 2026; no number given |
| Bavaria (Marktheidenfeld-Altfeld) | Cummins (about 350 jobs) and Schneider Electric (about 110, incl. Lahr) – jobs at risk | Engines / electrical | – | – | Radio Gong, 28 Oct 2026; IG Metall figures – not in total |
| Lower Saxony (Mehrum, Peine district) | McCain – plans for fries plant on hold; up to 650 jobs had been planned | Food | – | – | top agrar, 27 Oct 2026, 19:21 (added); no amount from McCain; planned jobs, not cuts – not in total |
| Bavaria (Garching) | Suss Microtec – ends production in Garching | Semiconductors / machinery | – | −70 | dpa-AFX, 27 Oct 2026 |
| Thuringia (Erfurt) | State of Thuringia – expansion of state data centre | Public IT | 63 | – | Kommune21, 27 Oct 2026; complete by end-2030 |
| Bavaria (Gerolzhofen) and Thuringia (Nordhausen) | Aryzta – two plants close, output moves to Eisleben | Bakery | – | −250 | dpa-AFX / AWP, 26 Oct 2026; per spokeswoman about 250–300 dismissals (about 600 staff affected in total); lower bound entered |
| Hesse (Frankfurt am Main) | Amazon Web Services – expansion of AWS Europe region (part of over EUR 16bn for 2027) | Cloud / data centres | 4,800 | – | Amazon press release, 20 Oct 2026 |
| Indicator | Value | Prior month | Published |
|---|---|---|---|
| Economic sentiment (ESI), euro area, October (points) | 96.9 | 97.5 | 29 Oct 2026 (dpa-AFX); prior month revised down 0.4; expected 97.5 |
| ifo employment barometer, October (points) | 95.5 | 95.1 | 28 Oct 2026 |
For information only, not investment advice. Prices as of the time stated, not real-time quotes.
Sources
- Radio K.W. – Unimicron schließt Werk in Geldern – IHK warnt (29.10.2026, 15:41) – 240 Stellen, Auflösung zum 1.11., Auslauf 1. Hj. 2027
- Evertiq – Unimicron plant Schließung seines deutschen Leiterplattenwerks (29.10.2026) – bis 35 Mio. Euro für die Abwicklung (Börsenmeldungen Taiwan vom 27.10.)
- ad-hoc-news (boerse-global) – Mann+Hummel in Speyer: 600 Arbeitsplätze sollen bis Ende 2028 wegfallen (29.10.2026, 00:39) – Einigungsstelle, Streikvorbereitung
- Stadt Speyer – Stellungnahme zur geplanten Werksschließung von MANN+HUMMEL (17.04.2026) – rund 600 Beschäftigte, Schließung bis spätestens Ende 2028
- Neue Westfälische – Beckhoff-Tochterunternehmen in Verl trotzt Krise und wagt seine bislang größte Investition (29.10.2026, 09:11) – 19.000 m² Halle, 4.200 m² Büro
- top agrar – McCain zieht die Reißleine: Mega-Pommesfabrik und 650 Jobs vor dem Aus (27.10.2026, 19:21)
- ARIVA.DE/dpa-AFX – Überblick: Konjunktur vom 29.10.2026, 17.15 Uhr (ESI Eurozone 96,9)
- finanzen.at/dpa-AFX – Tagesvorschau: Termine am 30. Oktober 2026 (Arbeitsmarkt 09:55, BIP 10:00, VPI 14:00)
- finanzen.net/dpa-AFX – Bundesagentur gibt Arbeitsmarktzahlen für Oktober bekannt (30.10.2026, 05:49) – September 2,994 Mio. Arbeitslose
- Verbraucherschutzforum Berlin – Wirtschaftsüberblick vom 29. Oktober 2026 (ifo-Beschäftigungsbarometer 95,1 → 95,5)
- onvista/dpa-AFX – VW startet Hochlauf für Auto-Demontage in Zwickau (28.10.2026, 09:22)
- ARIVA.DE/dpa-AFX – Playmobil-Werk soll zu Rechenzentrum werden (28.10.2026, 11:32)
- GE Vernova – GE Vernova va acquérir Trench Group (Pressemitteilung, 28.10.2026)
- finanzen.at/dpa-AFX – ROUNDUP: Trübere Aussichten bei Mercedes-Benz (28.10.2026, 13:42)
- Radio Gong – Marktheidenfeld/Altfeld: Landrat und Bürgermeister äußern sich zu Stellenabbau (28.10.2026, 14:35)
- finanzen.at/dpa-AFX – ROUNDUP: Suss Microtec verlagert Produktion (27.10.2026)
- move/Kommune21 – Mehr Raum für die Landes-IT (27.10.2026)
- finanzen.net/dpa-AFX – Aryzta schließt zwei deutsche Werke (26.10.2026)
- Amazon Press Center – 16 Mrd. Euro Investitionen für 2027 in Deutschland (20.10.2026)
- dpa via Tageskarte – «Sauerei»: Großbäcker Aryzta schließt zwei Werke (27.10.2026, 06:38) – 250 bis 300 Kündigungen laut Sprecherin; NGG: 170 Nordhausen, 270 Gerolzhofen
- AWP via blue News – Aryzta closes two German plants, 600 employees affected (26.10.2026, 08:30)
- dpa-AFX via boerse-online – ROUNDUP: Zweites Leben für Autos – VW baut Recycling in Zwickau auf (21.01.2026) – bis zu 90 Mio. Euro, 1.000 Arbeitsplätze sichern
- The Next Web – Amazon plans to make a €16bn investment in Germany in 2027 (20.10.2026) – davon 4,8 Mrd. Euro für AWS-Region Frankfurt
