Conti in employee-transfer deal with defence sector major

Hanover, Germany – Continental AG has signed a deal with Rheinmetall AG to provide skilled workers to the German defence technology group over the coming years.

The deal, announced 14 June, involves the immediate transfer of 100 employees from Continental’s Gifhorn location to a Rheinmetall site 55km north in Unterluess, Lower Saxony.

Last July, Continental disclosed plans to phase out business activities at Gifhorn plant by the end of 2027, impacting 900 jobs at the site. (ERJ report).

Rheinmetall, according to Continental, expects sales growth of up to 40% in the current fiscal year, with correspondingly high personnel requirements in the longer term.

The transfer deal is the third of its kind as Continental continues to implement a broad group-wide restructuring.

Prior to that the group signed ‘from work to work’ agreements with Stiebel Eltron and Siemens Mobility, said Dr Ariane Reinhart, HR and sustainability executive at Continental.

Continental employees "will bring outstanding qualities that can be highly valuable to us at Rheinmetall,” said Peter Sebastian Krause, HR executive at Rheinmetall.

Over the recent years, Continental said it has launched a number of initiatives to support employees in their career within the German group or outside it.

The Hanover group launched the ‘institute for technology and transformation’ in 2019 with 14 locations throughout Germany to provide training and qualifications to employees.

Another initiative, according to Reinhart, is the ContiMotion: a careers company for training and employment, which the group set up with trade union IGBCE.

ContiMotion’s primary goal is to offer employees attractive opportunities on both the internal and external job markets.