Frankfurt am Main/Düsseldorf – The shortage of semiconductors is not only causing short-term difficulties for automotive suppliers but is also jeopardizing the refinancing of necessary investments in sustainable products and processes. Works council members from the supplier industry and experts from academia issued this warning today at a conference organized by the Hans Böckler Foundation in cooperation with IG Metall.
According to the report, the shortage of semiconductors is leading to significant losses in revenue, while at the same time prices for plastics, steel, and aluminum are currently rising. Both factors are hitting suppliers particularly hard: they cannot pass on the rising prices to manufacturers. This development jeopardizes investments by suppliers—investments that are, however, urgently needed to ensure that only climate-neutral cars are built by 2035, as mandated by the EU.
Speaking at the digital conference, Jörg Hofmann, President of IG Metall, criticized the behavior of many suppliers in this situation: “Instead of investing in development and new products and facilities for climate-neutral mobility, many employers are now responding with their usual strategies: cutting jobs and relocating to low-wage countries. But this approach will not bring about the transformation, and climate protection will also be delayed.” According to Hofmann, what is needed is: “Innovation, infrastructure, investment, and workforce training at the locations where production takes place today: These are the levers for managing the transformation of our industries. Companies and the incoming federal government alike have a role to play here,” said Hofmann.
IG Metall is therefore calling for an additional 500 billion euros in public investment over the next 10 years to build out charging infrastructure, public transit, power grids, nationwide broadband expansion, the digitization of schools, and much more. Against this backdrop, the existing debt brakes at the federal and state levels must be reformed as a matter of urgency.
Above all, small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as suppliers in the mobility sectors and related mechanical engineering industries, need support to finance investments in new business models, in networking and consulting services, in training—and thus in secure prospects for good jobs—and in the restructuring of products, production processes, and value chains.
This transition will only succeed in a sustainable and fair manner if good jobs continue to be available at current locations in the affected regions. For IG Metall, this means: “Public funds must not be invested in companies that want to close or relocate sites and erode hard-won standards. No government money for companies that do not want to be bound by collective bargaining agreements and that question, circumvent, or directly attack worker participation,” emphasizes Hofmann.
During the nationwide day of action on October 29, under the slogan “#fairtransition – social, ecological, democratic,” IG Metall and workers will present their demands for a just transformation of industry to policymakers at more than 50 rallies. Tens of thousands of participants are expected nationwide.
Further information and press photos of Jörg Hofmann
