AkzoNobel to close five German offices

Canned paint giant AkzoNobel has revealed more details of its plans to ‘streamline’ its structure with more than a quarter of German-based roles facing the axe.

Following the recent announcements of plans to divest both its building adhesives business and decorative paints stores in Germany, AkzoNobel has informed employees of its intention to streamline its organizational structure in Germany.

Only last week the company announced it was considering job cuts.

The proposals involve reducing the number of office locations from eight to three by the summer of next year. The three offices will be based in Cologne, Hamburg and Stuttgart.

Currently, office employees, including management, supporting staff functions such as HR and finance, and sales personnel are spread across Germany in Börnsen, Cologne, Düren, Essen, Hannover, Ludwigsburg, Norderstedt and Wuppertal.

AkzoNobel says this is a ‘highly fragmented footprint’ and the result of various mergers and acquisitions that have occurred during recent years.

When completed, these developments will result in a reduction of more than 25% in the total number of personnel employed by AkzoNobel in Germany to approximately 2,600.

“By bringing office-based management and supporting staff together in fewer locations and better aligning them with the needs of our businesses in Germany, we aim to improve our operational effectiveness as well as lowering overheads,” said AkzoNobel executive committee member Werner Fuhrmann.

“The need to further streamline our organizational structure in Germany has become increasingly clear in light of recent developments.”