Zalando closure: Job placement for Erfurt workers poses major challenge

The regional employment agency anticipates a difficult task in re-employing workers from Zalando's soon-to-close logistics center in Erfurt. Irena Michel, head of the Thuringia Mitte employment agency, told the German Press Agency that the primary challenge lies with the large number of employees who are unskilled or have minimal training.

The regional job market in Erfurt currently lists around 4,700 open positions, but over 80 percent of these require specialized skills. Only about 650 openings are available for unskilled or minimally trained workers. Michel estimates that approximately 1,300 of the current 2,100 Zalando employees fall into this category. "It will not be an easy undertaking to get everyone back to work," Michel stated. However, she noted that many employees possess vocational qualifications that can serve as a foundation for new employment.

To provide early support, the employment agency will launch a dedicated "transformation team" in August. This team of 14 specialists will offer counseling, organize training, and aim to place affected workers into new jobs before they are officially unemployed. The agency has already had advisors present at the Zalando site since the closure was announced in January. The new team's model may also be applied to other companies undergoing significant restructuring or layoffs. So far, about 800 former or soon-to-be-laid-off Zalando employees have registered with the employment agency, with roughly half classified as unemployed and the other half as job seekers. Many of these are contract workers whose temporary agreements have expired.

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It will not be an easy undertaking to get everyone back to work.