Hensoldt Offers to Take Over Continental, Bosch Workers

(Bloomberg) -- Hensoldt AG is offering to take over nearly 200 Continental AG and Robert Bosch GmbH employees who will lose their jobs over plans by the automotive suppliers to shutter factories and cut capacity.

Representatives for Hensoldt, a defense company that makes radars, visited Continental’s Wetzlar plant to present workers there with job alternatives and take applications, a Continental spokesperson said. Each employee has to apply individually for the available positions.

The car-parts maker plans to close the Wetzlar site later this year, with around 360 jobs affected. Hensoldt expects to take over nearly 100 people there, a company spokesperson said.

Hensoldt Chief Executive Officer Oliver Dörre told Bloomberg in December that the defense company was in talks to hire full teams of software engineers from two separate auto-parts suppliers.

The second one is Bosch, a Hensoldt spokesperson said Friday. The manufacturer intends to hire nearly 100 Bosch workers from the Stuttgart region for its locations in Baden-Wuerttemberg. They include a site in Ulm, where Hensoldt is expanding production capacities.

It’s not the first time that Continental has benefited from a defense company’s rising personnel need. Tank and ammunitions maker Rheinmetall AG said in June that it plans to hire as many as 100 workers from Continental’s Gifhorn location.

Defense spending is on the rise across Europe, giving a boost to weapons makers as the ongoing war in Ukraine and the return of President Donald Trump stokes calls for a stronger commitment to security. 

At the same time, Europe’s auto industry is grappling with stagnant demand for electric vehicles and increasing competition from China. Parts suppliers including Continental, Bosch and Schaeffler have cut jobs as the slump drags on.

(Updates with Hensoldt comment in third paragraph.)

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