Chemical industry: Future of Evonik’s service business remains open

The chemical company Evonik has announced further details about the division of the “Technology & Infrastructure” division announced a year ago. Accordingly, when the division is split up, 3,600 employees will be assigned to infrastructure activities at the Marl and Wesseling locations. These include Evonik services such as logistics, technical service, workshops and plant security.

According to a spokesman, it is still unclear what will happen to this service business. All options would continue to be examined. In September 2023, Evonik mentioned the possibility of remaining fully part of the group via partnership and joint venture models and even a sale. “In the future, a partial sale or a sale of the entire unit could be possible,” the spokesman said. The technology unit should remain within the group.

Evonik currently employs around 32,000 people. By streamlining administration, the group wants to save around 2,000 jobs by the end of 2026. The sale of the polyester business with 400 jobs and the so-called C4 chemistry with around 1,000 jobs have also been planned for some time. In this area, Evonik produces, among other things, anti-knock agents and plasticizers. The restructuring plans add up to 7,000 jobs that could be directly affected.

No redundancies for operational reasons until 2032

Evonik does not want to announce any operational layoffs until 2032. A spokesman emphasized that when selling parts of a company, it is a basic condition that employee rights are given the same priority by potential buyers as they are at Evonik.

The chemical union IGBCE demanded that the Evonik conversion be organized in a socially responsible manner. The transformation of Evonik should not only mean downsizing and outsourcing, but must also mean investment and modernization, explained IGBCE board member Alexander Bercht, according to a statement.

He emphasized that no decisions had yet been made regarding a possible spin-off of the infrastructure business in Marl and Wesseling. “We insist on examining all scenarios with an open mind. It is clear that the 3,600 employees in the area must not suffer disadvantages in terms of pay, co-determination or collective bargaining in any scenario.”

Evonik wants to become leaner and more profitable

Evonik wants to fundamentally restructure the group structure in the coming years. On Friday, management announced that the previous business areas will be merged into the two new divisions “Custom Solutions” and “Advanced Technologies” from April 2025.

As a result of the move, an entire management level in the group will be eliminated. The Essenes had already announced the organizational restructuring. This should make the company faster, leaner and more profitable overall.

Evonik sees the business in the new “Custom Solutions” division more in niche markets with specific products for customers. These include additives for paints and coatings as well as products for the cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries.

The “Advanced Technologies” division is intended to assert itself in the competition primarily through low costs. High-performance plastics and the chemical hydrogen peroxide are produced in this segment. Both divisions each generate annual sales of around six billion euros.

The chemical company’s largest shareholder is the RAG Foundation with 47 percent. It is responsible for financing the follow-up costs from the German hard coal mining industry, which was discontinued in 2018, the “eternity tasks”.