Thyssenkrupp agrees restructuring approach with labour leaders

Management and labour leaders at Germany’s Thyssenkrupp have agreed on a way forward after the industrial conglomerate announced a fresh restructuring drive that could lead to the loss of 6,000 jobs.

Agreement was reached in talks between management and workers overnight on recognising the need for radical action, whilst ensuring fair treatment of employees at the Essen-based group, both sides said.

CEO Guido Kerkhoff announced the overhaul on Friday, ditching plans to split the business into two and abandoning a European steel merger with India’s Tata Steel.

The group will adopt a holding structure and plans to list its elevators unit, its most successful business.

The decision, first reported by Reuters, triggered a 28 percent recovery in Thyssenkrupp shares - their biggest daily gain - as Kerkhoff abandoned a cross-shareholding structuring that had ceased to be financially viable.