The Silent Cull: How German Companies Are Pushing Out Managers Without Paying Severance

A quiet but alarming trend is spreading through Germany's corporate landscape. According to a Gallup engagement index, the emotional bond that managers feel toward their employers has plummeted since 2020. Coaching expert Violeta Nikolic attributes this to relentless restructuring, a lack of backing from above, and a growing sense of futility. The result, she says, is that many executives mentally check out long before any formal termination process begins.

This emotional withdrawal—a form of quiet quitting among leaders—comes as Germany records 49,000 unemployed managers, a 14% jump compared with the previous year. But observers say the true story is not just the numbers; it is the tactics companies use to make people leave without incurring large severance bills.

Labour lawyer Christoph Abeln and Nils Schmidt of the manager association Die Führungskräfte (DFK) describe a practice they call "covert disempowerment". Warning signs include decisions being made over a manager’s head, or a gradual stripping away of staff responsibility and budget. The aim, they say, is to so weaken the position that the manager agrees to a contract dissolution on less favourable terms.

Schmidt says his caseload has hit a record, with roughly 2,000 consultations in the past twelve months alone. His advice to affected managers: stay calm, scrutinise any settlement agreement, and seek legal advice promptly. The standard rule for severance pay remains one month's gross salary per year of service. Negotiation windows typically last just one to two weeks.

While the business community pushes for more flexible labour laws, the courts are tightening their interpretation of existing rules. In mid-May 2025, the Düsseldorf Regional Labour Court ruled that managers who violate their duty of loyalty during restructuring risk an extraordinary dismissal. The Federal Labour Court (BAG) added in late June 2026 that minor errors in mass-dismissal notifications—such as imprecise figures on the number of affected workers—do not automatically invalidate the dismissals. However, in a March 2026 decision, the same court stressed that under European law an improperly filed notification can indeed render redundancies void. Those contradictory signals are making employer-side moves even more complicated.

At the political level, Chancellor Friedrich Merz's government is debating an easing of dismissal protection. Proposed exemptions target start-ups and firms with fewer than 50 employees, but the most contentious element is a potential softening of protection for high earners. The plan would affect managers earning between €100,000 and €150,000 per year. The German Start-up Association has also called for "founder protection zones" where no dismissal protection would apply for the first four years.

The manager association ULA has responded with an open letter sent to the government in early July, warning that weakening protections would upset the social balance. Income alone, the letter argues, is not a valid measure of how much protection a person deserves. Trade union Verdi has threatened protests.

Behind these policy battles lies a broader industrial malaise. Roughly 60% of industrial companies plan further job cuts by 2030. Though construction, IT, and healthcare are adding roles, the manufacturing sector is bleeding roughly 15,000 positions each month. An additional 100,000 job losses are forecast for this year alone, driven by persistently high energy costs and bureaucratic hurdles. For many managers at the sharp end of these changes, the fight is no longer over their job—it is over the conditions under which they will be forced to leave.

en | boerse | 69670290 |