DGAP-News

Schaeffler AG: Schaeffler AGM adopts dividend of 25 eurocents per common non-voting share - Seite 3

Industrial achieves growth with new products and by leveraging service business
Alongside the continuous expansion of its core business in bearings and linear technology, Schaeffler sees major growth opportunities in the growing trend towards automation across all industrial processes. The Industrial division's expertise in lightweight robotics is evident from its modular portfolio of innovative bearings, gearboxes and drive motors. These system components have a big impact on the performance of compact robotic arms and offer potential for major development advances.

The growing trend towards automation and reliability also encompasses services. In the service space, Schaeffler offers an IoT solution called OPTIME that makes condition monitoring of machines in production processes efficient and cost-effective. At the recent Hannover Messe tradeshow, OPTIME won Red Dot awards in two categories for its outstanding product design, functional design and high level of innovation.

Negotiations on workforce downsizing largely completed
Good progress has been made with the measures for accelerating the transformation of the Schaeffler Group that were announced in September 2020. The structural measures relate mainly to twelve locations in Germany. It is envisaged that implementation of the measures will be largely completed by the end of 2022. Following intensive and constructive negotiations with employee representatives, reconciliation-of-interests agreements have now been concluded at nine of the twelve locations. This means that Schaeffler is now in a position to implement the great bulk of the measures.

Negotiations are ongoing for the Wuppertal, Clausthal-Zellerfeld and Luckenwalde locations, where more time will be needed to find solutions on aspects such as relocation and possible sales and closures. The discussions are proceeding on a constructive note.

The employer and employee representatives agree that the workforce downsizing must take place with the maximum degree of social responsibility, through early partial retirement, internal redeployments and separation agreements. These measures, together with the voluntary exit program that ran from November 2020 until the end of March 2021, mean that the company has already achieved half of its total workforce reduction target.