German airline, Lufthansa is gearing to trim its workforce by almost four per cent. That means about 4,000 jobs will be cut over the next five years. Those in administrative and operational roles will be most impacted, say reports. The move comes amid high unemployment rates and recession in the country. The economy is reportedly already struggling with stiff competition from China, energy costs surging and technology adoption unable to keep pace.
Lufthansa Group has a global workforce that is about 1.03 lakh strong, including, Swiss International Airlines, the flag carrier of Switzerland, Eurowings, the low-cost carrier, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines, which are all part of the Group. It had recently acquired Italian airline ITA Airways too.
It is reported that Lufthansa has adjusted its operating margin of eight per cent to 10 as part of its new financial goals for 2028-2030.
The airline will eliminate redundancies during this restructuring exercise and focus only on activities that are essential in the future. It will be embracing artificial intelligence (AI) to ensure better efficiency.
Interestingly, early this year, in January, Lufthansa Group had revealed that it was gearing to add at least 10,000 people to its existing workforce. At the time it was reported that most of the roles—more than 50 per cent— were likely to be filled in Germany itself, which is its domestic market. These roles were to be spread across operations, technical and administration departments. The Group was also to actively hire ground staff and flight attendants for its subsidiary airlines.