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The weakness of the automotive industry is hitting the development service provider Edag with full force. More than 22 percent of jobs in Germany will be eliminated across the group, including many at the Fulda location.
Fulda – The mood at Edag was certainly better: Group sales fell by 13 percent to 714 million euros in 2025. At 688 million euros, incoming orders remained significantly behind the previous year. At the same time, the result slipped deeper into the red: the bottom line is a loss of 43.7 million euros – after minus 14.4 million euros in the previous year. The operating margin fell to minus 1.8 percent. These numbers were there Harald Keller, head of the development service provider since mid-2024announced on Thursday at the annual press conference for the 2025 financial year.
Edag will cut 1,300 jobs by the end of 2026 – 150 in Fulda
The main reason is the crisis facing traditional customers. Large car manufacturers are postponing projects or providing fewer services. The reluctance of many customers to invest was painfully noticeable at Edag. This affects all three business areas. Capacity utilization in development and electronics is particularly suffering. A major project placed an additional burden: Edag had to write off 15 million euros in the Production Solutions segment.
The group reacts with tough cuts. Around 800 jobs were cut within a year, especially in Germany – In the middle of last year, the company was still expecting 1,000. The workforce shrank to 8,303 employees. Another 500 employees are expected to leave the company in 2026. The savings program is expected to bring in around 90 million euros annually. In 2025, however, the renovation cost around 30 million euros. “In total, we are reducing the number of employees by around 1,300 people, i.e. by more than 22 percent of the workforce in Germany,” says CFO Holger Merz. This also includes “natural fluctuation”.
This did not go unnoticed at the Fulda location either: 1,450 of the 1,600 jobs remained. But there is also positive news: “We have completed our restructuring programs,” says Merz when asked by our newspaper. This means: There are currently no plans for further job cuts – apart from normal fluctuation – in Fulda. Nevertheless, the issue of short-time work remains an instrument that Edag must resort to.
Edag responds to crises by opening up new business areas
“We use short-time work, but that has decreased significantly compared to last year,” says Merz. “We can say today that we have already secured around 80 percent of our planned sales this year with incoming orders,” emphasizes Keller. Nevertheless, if there are no further orders, we may have to “consider another austerity program. It's very, very difficult to say at the moment,” said Keller.
In order to mitigate the crisis, Edag is expanding new fields. Business outside the automotive industry grew by 21 percent to around 100 million euros. The armaments sector in particular shows high demand. Medical technology, semiconductors and energy should also contribute more. However, it remains unclear whether and how quickly locations like Fulda will benefit from this.
Meanwhile, the group is pushing ahead with the expansion of global development centers, especially in India. The aim is greater efficiency and lower costs. But at the same time this increases the pressure on German locations. The focus of the innovation agenda is accelerating development processes, said Keller. Scalable, AI-supported solutions are increasingly being used. This increases the efficiency of both product and production developments.
The board remains very cautious when it comes to the outlook: the group does not expect a quick turnaround for 2026. Sales should only fluctuate by plus or minus five percent. However, the operating margin is expected to recover and reach up to three percent. In the long term, Edag is aiming for a margin of six to eight percent again – but such figures are currently still a long way off.
