Fujitsu in Augsburg tight

Augsburg (dpa) – The only remaining IT plant in Europe is nearing completion: Fujitsu Group wants to close its Augsburg plant in a global transformation by 2020.
"The closure concerns the 1,500 employees of the site," said a spokesman Friday. In addition, about 300 jobs in other German branches are threatened.
The number of posts that will eventually disappear will be negotiated with the workers' representatives on a social level. Fujitsu however does not have any other production site in Germany. The company plans to relocate development, manufacturing and logistics to its headquarters in Japan.
At first, we did not know how it would be done for the workforce in Augsburg. "We are currently in negotiations with employee representation," said the spokesman. For Augsburg, this means the second announced closure of the plant in a short time: the Chinese lighting manufacturer Ledvance is also closing its factory in the city – a former Osram factory.
IG Metall protested. "This concerns the substance of the company's location," said Bavarian district director Jürgen Wechsler. He called on the state government in Munich "not only to admit but to intervene". The Minister of Economy, Franz Josef Pschierer (CSU), intervened immediately: "This decision is a blow, especially for employees and their families, as well as for the entire region of Augsburg." He wanted to meet on Friday the management and the company committee.
According to the company, the Augsburg Fujitsu plant is the last remaining IT plant in Europe. Until now, laptops and storage systems have been produced in this country. After a process of concentration in the industry, there are not many manufacturers in the world anyway.
With Apple, Dell and HP are still three American companies. Otherwise, the music is now playing in East Asia: in addition to Fujitsu, Taiwanese competitors Acer and Asus are active, as well as Chinese Lenovo and South Korean companies Samsung and LG. Siemens in Germany – former partner of Fujitsu – and the former company Nixdorf, established in Paderborn, have long been bankrupt.
The market is very competitive and profit margins are low. Traditional desktop computers are considered an endangered species and sales have already fallen sharply in recent years. In addition, the American computer consulting company IDC, specializing in the computer sector, also expects a decrease in the number of tablets in the coming years, while sales of notebooks could increase, but to a very limited extent.
Fujitsu claims to employ around 140,000 people worldwide, compared to 5,500 in Germany so far. In addition to production in Augsburg, many employees work in customer service in small branches in Germany.

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