After 17 years of business in Serbia, the German company "Draexlmaier Group", a global manufacturer of cable sets for the automotive industry, will shut down its production facility in Zrenjanin.
The factory will be closed. 2026, and the plant will continue to operate until the end of this year, when almost 2.000 workers will lose their jobs, the Industrial Union of Serbia told the portal Danas.
The deepening crisis in the German auto industry, which has been going on for some time, is cited as the reason for closing the plant.
According to Dragan Matić, the president of the "DAD DM Industrial Union", it is certain that "Drexlmayer" will shut down its plants all over the world.
"What the representatives of the employers told us is that the auto industry for which they work, that is, the final companies in the industry, have announced that certain products for which they make cable sets will be shut down," says Matić.
Matić states that the employees hoped that there would be a reduction in the workforce, and not the shutdown of the entire plant.
"In a month, the trade unions will begin discussions with the employer about how the shutdown will be implemented, as well as what conditions will be given to the employees." The employer's representatives have already announced fair and correct conditions, which implies not only compliance with the legal minimums, but more generous compensation is planned. In the meantime, colleagues from the factory together with the management will contact the National Employment Service in Zrenjanin in order to prepare for the situation that a significant number of people will end up at the office," Matić points out.
According to him, this is a very difficult and stressful situation for employees, especially for a significant number of married couples who work at "Drexlmayer".
About "Drexelmeyer"
The German company Drexlmeier has been operating in Zrenjanin since 2007. By 2018, four production halls were built, which are located in the Bagljaš industrial zone.
This German company received subsidies between 2007 and 2012 from both the Province and the Republic. In one period, it received a package of financial support from the state in the amount of around four million euros for the employment of 800 workers, i.e. five thousand euros for one new workplace.
In the period before the pandemic, according to data from the Agency for Economic Registers (APR) in 2018
the average number of employees was 6.251, which accounted for 17,8% of the total number of employees in Zrenjanin. After that, the average number of employees was more than halved, to reach the number of around two thousand workers today.
A series of closed factories
"Drexlmeier" is only one of a number of factories that have stated in recent weeks that they are facing problems in their operations. The most affected is the south of Serbia, where the "Benneton" factory will close its plant. which "Vreme" previously wrote about.
In addition to "Benetton", the factories "Johnson Electric", "Aptiv" and "Jura" are also in a difficult situation, where they are offering to terminate the contract by agreement.
Sources: Danas/Vreme
