Overview

• Thyssenkrupp plans to shrink its Essen headquarters from 500 to 100 employees, cut about 1,000 administrative jobs and sell its steel and trading divisions as part of a shift to a financial holding structure.
• SPD leader Jochen Ott derided Wüst’s silence on the cuts and asset sales as a threat to North Rhine-Westphalia’s tradition of worker codetermination.
• Wüst skipped a Landtag debate on Thyssenkrupp to unveil a federal AI initiative in Berlin but has insisted the steelmaker honor its co-management rights.
• SPD co-chair Sarah Philipp has proposed a possible state equity stake in Thyssenkrupp to safeguard regional steel capacity and industrial modernization.
• The overhaul, pending supervisory board approval, is seen as a barometer for Germany’s ability to balance social partnership with the steel industry’s global consolidation and green transformation.