The restructuring events database contains factsheets with data on large-scale restructuring events reported in the principal national media and company websites in each EU Member State. This database was created in 2002.
Manufacturing (24 - 25) Manufacture of metals 25.3 - Manufacture of weapons and ammunition 25.30 - Manufacture of weapons and ammunition
100 jobs Number of planned job creations
Announcement Date
23 January 2026
Employment effect (start)
23 January 2026
Foreseen end date
Description
The German defence manufacturer Rheinmetall has announced plans to create between 100 and 150 new jobs in Harzgerode (district Silberhütte) located in the Harz region (Saxony-Anhalt). Currently, around 300 people work at the site.
The planned staff expansion is driven by the company’s intention to at least double its production capacity at the Harz site, supported by an investment of 30 to 40 million euros. Rheinmetall expects increasing demand from the German Armed Forces and anticipates exporting products manufactured at this location.
Rheinmetall is a rapidly growing, publicly listed defence company with around 40,000 employees.
Previous internal restructuring measures were recorded in the ERM database, including the creation of 500 jobs in August 2025 Rheinmetall 2025 - DE, which is part of a sizeable worldwide business expansion by 9,000 employees driven by the increased global demand for defence technology Rheinmetall 2025 - WO.
Eurofound (2026), Rheinmetall, Business expansion in Germany, factsheet number 204052, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/204052.
Digitisation and automation technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), can affect working conditions in a variety of ways and their use in the workplace raises a host of new ethical concerns.
The retail banking sector is fertile ground for studying the impacts of digitalisation on work and employment. Financial services are increasingly provided online, without the intermediary of customer-facing institutions.
European labour markets have recovered strongly from COVID-19. By the end of 2021, little more than 18 months after the start of the pandemic, employment rates in the EU were almost at pre-crisis levels.
