Labour cost pressures at your customers now shape the size of your next call-off.
When an OEM cuts costs internally, the pressure moves down the chain to Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers.
Volkswagen is reportedly weighing the closure of four German plants within five years. The plan starts with production phase outs at Zwickau and Emden. At ZF, the works council warns of monthly pay cuts of 300 to 500 euros for staff. Across the wider supplier workforce, sick leave reached 8.94 percent in 2025, up from 6.82 percent in 2016.
This is not a wage story. It is a question of how much cost your customers can absorb before they cut your orders.
Their labour cost problem becomes your revenue problem, whether you choose it or not.
The supplier who reads this risk early checks three things:
Revenue sitting with customers now in labour disputes carries a direct risk to your own order book.
A customer’s plant closure can move your allocated volume to another supplier without warning.
Rising labour costs at a customer often land on supplier pricing before they land on supplier margin.
Which of your top three customers carries the highest labour risk right now?
If this sounds like your customer list, a short conversation with Christian can map where the risk actually sits. No pitch, just a look at your position.