Restructuring events
European Restructuring Monitor (ERM)
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.
On 4 August 2017, the German chemical and pharmaceutical company Merck announced it will cut 100 to 135 jobs from its administration affiliate in Darmstadt. The company wants to relocate parts of its accounting services from the Merck Shared Services Europe (MSSE) to Breslau (Poland) and Manila (Philippines) within the next 4 years.
Approximately 25 jobs will remain at the headquarters in Darmstadt. The remaining employees will mainly be tasked with strategic responsibilities.
Delocalisation is part of a solution to respond to the decline in operating profits and to standardise processes around the world.
The Mining, Chemicals and Energy Industrial Union IG BCE, which in 2012 successfully averted the closure of the MSSE in Darmstadt, announced it will oppose the plans. As recent as July 2017, the company also announced it would close four of its Life Science divisions in Germany. The Merck Group employs around 50,000 staff worldwide.
Eurofound (2017), Merck Accounting Solutions & Services Europe, Offshoring/Delocalisation in Germany, factsheet number 91716, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/91716.