Industry in Hessen makes six billion euros less in sales

• fromPeter Hanack

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Hessian companies in the metal and electrical industry suffer from the consequences of corona. Not only is there a lack of demand.

The corona crisis hit companies in the Hessian metal and electrical industry hard. Sales have plummeted, and few expect a quick recovery.

A survey conducted by the Hessenmetall employers’ association among its members gave a serious picture of the situation. Accordingly, sales fell significantly in the past year. From January to November the year-on-year decline was more than six billion euros, which corresponds to around nine percent. In 2019, sales were around 68 billion euros. These losses could not be made up, said Hessenmetall CEO Wolf Mang on Wednesday.

A quick improvement of the situation does not seem to be in sight. Only 40 percent of the companies stated that they expected sales to rise again in the current year. New investments would stagnate. The majority of companies did not expect a recovery from the consequences of the corona pandemic before 2022. Almost every third company cannot even estimate when normal conditions will be achieved again. 73 companies with around 25,000 employees took part in the survey.

The association members named the lack of demand as the main reason for the slump in sales. Around half of the companies were “moderately” to “very severely” affected by the Corona crisis. In addition, nine out of ten companies suffered from production restrictions. However, supply chain problems, the loss of staff due to illness or childcare as well as “expensive occupational health and safety” posed problems for the companies.

Short-time work has decreased. For the first time since the first lockdown, less than half of the companies (46 percent) used this instrument. However, a reduction in jobs is to be expected. Every third company has to reduce its workforce because of the pandemic.

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