Anticipating and managing the impact of change

ERM report 2020: Restructuring across borders

Report
Updated
22 July 2021
Published
10 November 2020
pdf
Formats
Executive summary in 22 languages
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Author(s): 
Hurley, John; Peruffo, Eleonora; Weber, Tina; Dimitrova, Eva; Tzortzakis, Ioannis; Avogaro, Matteo

Sejbiet ewlenin

  • Around 1 in 20 cases of large-scale restructuring are transnational, affecting activities in at least two countries. The employment effects of such cases tend to be much larger and the restructuring processes longer and more complex as a consequence. Large-scale transnational restructurings in the EU involve on average around 3,000 job losses.
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  • Around 1 in 20 cases of large-scale restructuring are transnational, affecting activities in at least two countries. The employment effects of such cases tend to be much larger and the restructuring processes longer and more complex as a consequence. Large-scale transnational restructurings in the EU involve on average around 3,000 job losses.
  • All restructuring activity is cyclical, with peaks coinciding with recessions, but transnational restructuring activity is particularly sensitive to the business cycle. Both the frequency of cases and the size of cases (in job losses) increases relatively faster during economic downturns, including that provoked by the COVID-19 crisis.
  • The COVID-19 crisis led to a doubling of restructuring job loss in the first six months of 2020 compared to the rolling average. The labour market impacts have been highly selective, with the two broad sectors most disrupted by physical distancing measures – transport (including air transport) and hotels and restaurants – accounting for nearly half of overall announced job loss (compared to less than 10% in ‘normal times’).
  • The capacity of European Works Councils to influence restructuring processes is limited, and these limitations are more obvious when multinational decision-making concentrates at the global level – rather than local, national or EU level – as is increasingly the case.
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Sommarju

This report has a dual focus. First, it reviews recent restructuring activity in the EU, from January 2019 up to and including the first impacts of the COVID-19 crisis. The second part presents an analysis of transnational restructuring cases – those that affect workers in more than one country. Read more

This report has a dual focus. First, it reviews recent restructuring activity in the EU, from January 2019 up to and including the first impacts of the COVID-19 crisis. The second part presents an analysis of transnational restructuring cases – those that affect workers in more than one country. The main source for both analyses is the European Restructuring Monitor events database, which has collected details of over 25,000 large-scale restructurings since it began in 2002, including nearly 2,000 since the beginning of 2019. The review of the data on transnational restructuring is complemented with a summary of case studies based on international relocations of production. The aim is to highlight the types of dispute that arise, how the restructuring is managed by management and the social partners, and what the outcomes are for the workers affected.

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Formats

  • Report

    Last updated date: 
    22 Jul 2021
    Number of pages: 
    48
    Reference no.: 
    EF20024
    ISBN: 
    978-92-897-2110-3
    Catalogue no.: 
    TJ-AL-20-001-EN-N
    DOI: 
    10.2806/581084
    Permalink: 
    eurofound.link/ef20024
    Catalogue info

    ERM report 2020: Restructuring across borders

    Author(s): 
    Hurley, John; Peruffo, Eleonora; Weber, Tina; Dimitrova, Eva; Tzortzakis, Ioannis; Avogaro, Matteo
    Topics: 
    Restructuring; Employment and labour markets; Labour market policies

    Formats

    Cite this publication: 

    Eurofound (2020), ERM report 2020: Restructuring across borders, European Restructuring Monitor series, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg.

  • Executive summary

    Reference no.: 
    EF20024EN1
    Catalogue info

    ERM report 2020: Restructuring across borders

    Author(s): 
    Eurofound

    Available for download in 22 languages

    Download

  • Tables and graphs

    List of tables

    Table 1: Announced job loss and job creation, by broad sector, EU27, Norway and the UK, 2019–Q2 2020
    Table 2: Top five offshoring cases, EU27, 2019–Q2 2020
    Table 3: Cases of announced job loss and job creation in the car components subsector in Member States and the UK, 2019–Q2 2020
    Table 4: Top five cases of announced job loss, EU27, 2019–Q2 2020
    Table 5: Top five cases of announced job creation, EU27, 2019–Q2 2020
    Table 6: Amazon full-time employee headcount, selected Member States and the UK, 2020
    Table 7: Largest COVID-19-related announced job loss restructuring cases, EU27 (national) and worldwide (transnational), March–June 2020
    Table 8: Sector and location details of nine transnational offshorings studied

    Table A1: MNEs with most restructuring cases, 2005–Q2 2020
    Table A2: MNEs with most restructuring cases (2005–Q2 2020) – geographical distribution of employment, 2005–2019

    List of graphs

    Figure 1: Change in full-time and part-time employment (in thousands), quarterly year on year, 2009–2019, EU27
    Figure 2: Announced job loss and job creation, by broad sector, EU27, Norway and the UK, 2019–Q2 2020
    Figure 3: Announced job loss cases (%), by restructuring type, EU27, Norway and the UK, 2019–Q2 2020
    Figure 4: Origin and destination countries for offshoring, selected Member States and the UK, 2019–Q2 2020
    Figure 5: Breakdown of restructuring type by company size, EU27, Norway and the UK, 2008–Q2 2020
    Figure 6: Case count and announced job loss and job creation in national restructurings, EU27, Norway and the UK, Q1 2019–Q2 2020
    Figure 7: Case count and announced job loss in transnational restructurings, EU27, Norway and the UK, Q1 2019–Q2 2020
    Figure 8: Announced job loss distinguished according to whether COVID-19 was indicated as a reason for restructuring, EU27, Norway and the UK, Q2 2020
    Figure 9: Announced job loss (%) distinguished according to whether COVID-19 was indicated as a reason for restructuring, by sector, EU27, Norway and the UK, 2019–Q2 2020
    Figure 10: Transnational share of ERM cases (%), 2005–Q2 2020
    Figure 11: Transnational restructurings – total announced job loss and as share of job loss in national cases, 2005–2020
    Figure 12: Restructuring cases (%), by job-loss size category and time frame, 2005–Q2 2020
    Figure 13: Transnational and national restructuring cases (%), by restructuring type, 2005– Q2 2020
    Figure 14: Restructuring job loss in national and transnational restructurings (%), by broad sector, 2005–Q2 2020

Research carried out prior to the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union on 31 January 2020, and published subsequently, may include data relating to the 28 EU Member States. Following this date, research only takes into account the 27 EU Member States (EU28 minus the UK), unless specified otherwise.

Part of the series

  • European Restructuring Monitor

    The European Restructuring Monitor (ERM) has reported on the employment impact of large-scale business restructuring since 2002. This publication series include the ERM reports, as well as blogs, articles and working papers on restructuring-related events in the EU27 and Norway.

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