PayPal: Job cuts in Germany

Author: Thomas Wandler
Date: 26.07.2019

87 percent of employees dismissed

Although PayPal increased its profit significantly by 12 percent to 4.3 billion dollars in the second quarter, the majority of jobs in Germany will be cut. At the location in Berlin-Wilmersdorf, 87 percent, in other words 309 of the 355 employees have to leave the company. According to newspaper “Bild”, PayPal plans to “restructure” the location.

PayPal suggested “that parts of the work should be transferred from the Berlin Wilmersdorf teams to other PayPal sites or external partners”. This was announced by a company spokeswoman. She added that the company was prepared to work closely with the works council.

However, according to Verdi, no talks have yet been held with the payment service provider. “The company has successfully avoided paying taxes here for years and now also wants to fire employees. This is a mess”, Mike Döding of Verdi told the “Bild”.

Furthermore, PayPal has not yet provided the union with any information about the reason for the dismissal. A list of questions had been sent to the company, which should be answered by the end of August. Döding fears that Paypal simply wants to sit out the situation. The company, on the other hand, said it wanted “a fair and equitable agreement for all concerned”.

Location profitable

According to Döding, the dismissal was not justified: The business figures are good, partly due to the work of the employees in Berlin-Wilmersdorf. According to the union’s calculations, the site is profitable, so costs are not a problem. Döding suspects that Paypal “wants to outsource to locations where it is even cheaper”.

The union therefore plans to safeguard local jobs and prevent partial closure. “The works council will fight for the preservation of the jobs”, commented Paypal works council chairman Anselm Mathes to the “Bild”. In addition to Germany, the payment service provider has also downsized sites in the USA and Malaysia and dismissed employees..