Rheinmetall and Continental sign letter of intent to retrain laid off workers

Hanover, Germany – Against the backdrop of an upturn in the defense industry, Continental and Rheinmetall have signed a letter of intent to cooperate. The aim of the agreement is to partly cover Rheinmetall’s fast-growing personnel requirements in the coming years with Continental employees affected by the transformation. Rheinmetall expects sales growth of up to 40 percent in the current fiscal year alone compared to the previous year, with correspondingly high personnel requirements in the longer term.

To achieve this, Continental and Rheinmetall will begin the cooperation as soon as possible. Up to 100 employees from Continental’s Gifhorn location, for example, will find new job opportunities at Rheinmetall in Unterlüß, Lower Saxony, around 55 kilometers north of Gifhorn. Events will also be organized at other German locations, where employees can find out about career opportunities at Rheinmetall.

Dr. Ariane Reinhart, Executive Board member for Human Relations and Sustainability: “The profound changes in all industries can only be tackled together. I am therefore delighted that Rheinmetall is now the third company we have enlisted as part of our ‘from work to work’ initiative to provide new job opportunities for employees affected by the transformation.” In addition to Rheinmetall, Continental has already concluded cooperation agreements with Stiebel Eltron and Siemens Mobility.

Peter Sebastian Krause, responsible for human resources on the Executive Board of Rheinmetall AG: “We look forward to working with Continental, which like Rheinmetall is a long-established company, a technological driver and an industrial heavyweight. It is an excellent match. We are confident that Continental’s employees will bring outstanding qualities that can be highly valuable to us at Rheinmetall. Not many companies in Germany are growing as strongly as Rheinmetall. So we are keen to find people interested in working for us and who we can add to our team – provided it is the right fit for both sides.”

Peter Sebastian Krause: “We offer applicants excellent career opportunities in many fields. Our company and our products play an essential role in the security industry. With our products, we give security forces the means to protect free democratic values and secure peace. We are also a major player in the civilian sector, where we see great potential for our innovative developments both in automotive and in the use of hydrogen power. We welcome anyone with suitable talents who would like to work with us. We are currently working on similar cooperations that we also want to set up with other well-known industrial partners from a wide range of sectors.”

In order to be best prepared for a new job, employees will continue to have the opportunity to gain qualifications at the Continental Institute for Technology and Transformation (CITT). The CITT was founded back in 2019 and currently has 14 training locations throughout Germany. To date, more than 10,000 participants have obtained qualifications for other activities on the internal and external job markets here.

“We are shaping the transformation in a fair and socially responsible way and are transferring as many of our employees as possible from work into work. To do so, we are making full use of our tried-and-tested transformation toolbox and exploring new avenues – in close cooperation with social partners. This is transformation with opportunities,” said Reinhart.

One of these tools is ContiMotion, a careers company for training and employment, which Continental set up with IG BCE. Its primary goal is to offer employees attractive opportunities on both the internal and external job markets.

Another tool the technology company is using successfully is its internal job market. With the support of in-house HR experts, well over 300 employees have already been placed in vacant positions at other affiliates and thus retained within the Continental Group.

Continental is also using its membership of the Allianz der Chancen (alliance of opportunities) association to build bridges to employment for employees. The Allianz der Chancen was founded in 2021 and today represents 70 companies and institutions as well as around 2.7 million employees in Germany.