Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on January 29, 2025
1 min readLast updated: January 27, 2026
Add as preferred source on Google
German industry outlook improves, but domestic market struggles. VDMA survey shows fewer firms expect deterioration, with job cuts looming.
BERLIN (Reuters) - Fewer German engineering firms had a negative outlook in January compared with three months ago, according to a survey published by the VDMA industry lobby on Wednesday, but headwinds persisted in their home market as other regions pulled ahead.
Of the 1,021 companies surveyed, the number that expected their situation to deteriorate again in the next six months fell to 15% from 22% in October, the VDMA said in a statement.
The poll showed Germany lagging behind other regions in terms of sales prospects: Some 42% of companies viewed their current prospects in North America as good or very good, while in Germany, 54% saw them as poor or very poor.
"Germany as a business location is under enormous pressure and, moreover, other sales regions are seeing more growth and thus demand for mechanical engineering products," VDMA chief economist Ralph Wiechers said in a statement.
The VDMA also flagged job cuts on the horizon: One in four companies planned to reduce its workforce in the next six months, while 60% said they expected it would remain the same size.
(Writing by Rachel More, Editing by Miranda Murray)
The survey indicated that fewer German engineering firms had a negative outlook in January compared to three months prior, with the percentage expecting deterioration falling from 22% to 15%.
The poll showed that while 42% of companies viewed their prospects in North America as good or very good, 54% of companies in Germany had a negative outlook.
The VDMA reported that one in four companies planned to reduce their workforce in the next six months, while 60% expected their workforce to remain the same size.
Explore more articles in the Headlines category
