Germany’s Auto Industry Employment Falls to 2005 Low

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — Employment in Germany’s automotive industry fell to its lowest level since 2005 in the first half of 2026. At the end of June, the sector employed 691,500 people, down 42,300, or 5.8%, from a year earlier, Germany’s Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) reported.

The decline in automotive employment was the largest among Germany’s major industrial sectors employing more than 200,000 people. Despite the fall in employment, the automotive industry remained the country’s second-largest manufacturing employer. Machinery manufacturing ranked first, with 905,900 employees at the end of the first half of the year.

Employment at companies producing vehicles and engines fell 6.1% year on year to 429,200. In the production of automotive components and accessories, employment declined 7.6% to 219,500.

At the same time, employment in the production of bodies, coachwork and trailers increased 10% to 42,800.

The decline in employment affected not only the automotive industry. Overall, Germany’s manufacturing sector employed 5.29 million people at the end of the first half of the year. The figure fell by 144,100, or 2.7%, over the year.

Employment also declined in other major industrial segments. The number of workers in metal product manufacturing fell 3.8%, while employment in ferrous and non-ferrous metal production declined 3.7%, in the chemical industry 3.6% and in electrical equipment manufacturing 3.4%.

In machinery manufacturing, Germany’s largest industrial sector by employment, the number of workers fell 2.7% year on year.

More moderate employment declines were recorded in plastics manufacturing, the food industry and the production of computers, electronic and optical products.