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Study: Only 17 percent of East Germans kept their job after reunification

Oct 1, 2026, 10:06am Reading time: 1 min.

On the night the Berlin Wall fell at Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin.Wolfgang Haut

USA is investigating cyber attacks against AI developers +++ VW wants to cut 1,000 jobs at Cariad +++ News in the company live blog

VW wants to cut 1,000 jobs at Cariad

The VW software subsidiary Cariad is facing major job cuts. Specifically, it involves around 1,000 jobs. The German Press Agency learned this from corporate circles. This would affect almost a quarter of the approximately 4,300 remaining Cariad employees. The “Handelsblatt” had previously reported.

By when and how the jobs would be eliminated was still unclear. Negotiations will now be held with employee representatives. Collective agreements were also terminated. A Cariad spokesman declined to comment when contacted. As the “Handelsblatt” reported, the company is said to have informed employees at a works meeting on Wednesday about, among other things, job cuts. This is necessary in order to maintain competitiveness compared to external software providers, it is said with regard to participants.

According to the report, the company is expected to cut its investments by around 6.1 billion euros from 2027 to 2031. At the beginning of the next decade, Cariad is also expected to contribute a further 400 million euros to the planned improvement in the Group's operating results. The board's future plan, which is intended to make the group more profitable by 2030, calls for billions in cuts in development budgets and the elimination of tens of thousands of jobs.

Cariad's software solutions are used throughout the VW Group. The subsidiary was originally supposed to develop large parts of the software itself. Due to problems with important projects, which also delayed the launch of individual models, the car company replaced the Cariad leadership in 2023 and changed course. Unlike his predecessor Herbert Diess, VW CEO Oliver Blume relies on cooperation with external partners such as Xpeng in China or Rivian in the USA when it comes to software. Cariad is now focusing, among other things, on the in-house development of key technologies such as driving dynamics software, cloud applications and infotainment systems.

The software subsidiary has already cut jobs several times in previous years. At the end of 2023, Cariad still had 6,500 employees. Most recently, the reduction was carried out in a socially acceptable manner through severance payments and early retirement programs. Terminations for operational reasons were ultimately ruled out until 2029.

Lufthansa and Air France-KLM improve bids for TAP

In the bidding war for the Portuguese state airline TAP, Lufthansa and Air France-KLM have improved their offers. The Portuguese state holding company Parpublica said on Wednesday that it had received improved binding offers from both for a 44.9 percent stake. The airlines submitted their first bids in July and were asked to improve them at the beginning of the month.

Parpublica did not provide any information about the amount of the offers. The holding company will now examine the offers and prepare a report for the government in Lisbon. According to Infrastructure Minister Miguel Pinto Luz, a decision should be made by mid-October. The winner would then become a strategic partner of one of the few remaining independent national airlines in Europe.

USA is investigating cyber attacks against AI developers

The US antitrust authority FTC has apparently initiated extensive investigations into the AI industry. Executives from developers such as OpenAI or Anthropic would have to answer a questionnaire about the risks of artificial intelligence (AI), a person familiar with the matter told the Reuters news agency on Wednesday. Numerous US media outlets are reporting on the FTC's investigations.

Authority chief Andrew Ferguson ordered initial investigations before the cyberattack by an out-of-control AI model on the “Hugging Face” platform became public. He then intensified the investigation. Anthropic and OpenAI could not immediately be reached for comment. The New York Post newspaper first reported on the FTC initiative.

In recent months, highly developed AI programs – so-called AI agents that carry out tasks largely independently – have repeatedly taken on a life of their own. They circumvented security measures and penetrated third-party IT systems. This sparked a debate about the risks of this technology.

FTC boss Ferguson is more critical of AI agents. At a Reuters event last week, he spoke out against humanizing these programs and giving them a mind of their own. He instead suggested that AI developers should be held accountable for the harm caused by their products.

Typo in Trump's 'superintelligence' deal draws ridicule

The White House has published the “Agreement for Super Intelligence” that President Donald Trump negotiated with the heads of tech companies to self-regulate artificial intelligence. However, there was a hail of ridicule on Wednesday because of a typo: Trump was referred to as President of the “United States” under his signature; “United States” with “d” would be correct. Numerous Internet users commented that this does not exactly show “superintelligence”.

The White House published the two-page document on tech billionaire Elon Musk's online service X. Musk is among the signatories, as are Google boss Sundar Pichai, Anthropic founder Dario Amodei, Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg, OpenAI president Greg Brockman and Nvidia boss Jensen Huang.

Former boss of shirt manufacturer Olymp is dead

The former managing director of the shirt manufacturer Olymp, Eberhard Bezner, is dead. The textile entrepreneur died peacefully at home with his family on Tuesday, the company from Bietigheim-Bissingen (Ludwigsburg district) announced.

In 1960, after the death of his father, company founder Eugen Bezner, he took over responsibility for the then medium-sized company at the age of 24. He led the family business for several decades and turned it into an increasingly global clothing manufacturer.

Today Olymp is run by his son Mark Bezner. In 2025, the company had sales of 198 million euros with 816 employees.

Mercedes-Benz reactivates severance pay program in Germany

Mercedes-Benz is relaunching its severance pay program for employees in Germany. The program is expected to start in December, the car manufacturer announced in Stuttgart. Several media outlets had previously reported on it.

Mercedes has already taken important steps with its savings program to position the company for the future. In order to continue to make the necessary structural adjustments in a responsible and socially acceptable manner, the voluntary severance payment program will be revived in the indirect areas. Collective bargaining employees and, in some cases, managers also received individual offers.

The principle of double voluntariness also applies. Both the employees and the company would have to agree to leave. The car manufacturer employs 108,000 men and women in Germany.

Mercedes-Benz also wants to reduce labor costs in Germany in order to become more competitive. Mercedes production director Michael Schiebe had threatened to close two plants in Germany if costs in Germany were not reduced. Recently there had been repeated protests against the management's plans.

CTS Eventim CFO abruptly leaves after nine months

The ticket marketer and concert organizer CTS Eventim has to look for a new CFO for the fourth time in six years. Incumbent William Willms is leaving the company after exactly nine months with immediate effect, as CTS Eventim announced on Wednesday. The long-time finance director of Lufthansa Technik only came to CTS at the beginning of the year. The company did not give a reason for Willms' departure.

His predecessors didn't stay long either: Holger Hohrein was in office from 2023 to September 2025, Andreas Grandinger from April 2020 to the end of 2022. Philipp Knigge, who is responsible for finance at the second management level, will initially take over Willms' tasks on an interim basis. He has been working for CTS Eventim for nine years.

After the announcement, CTS Eventim shares fell by six percent to 53 euros.

Takeover of Tegut branches by Edeka: Monopoly Commission warns of consequences for competition

In view of the planned takeover of 178 Tegut branches by Edeka, the Monopolies Commission warns of the possible consequences for competition. “The authorities will now have to pay even more attention to ensuring that the big four do not drive up prices or prevent innovation,” said the head of the Monopolies Commission, Tomaso Duso, on Wednesday, referring to the four major retailers Edeka, Rewe, Aldi and the Schwarz Group with Lidl and Kaufland. According to the Federal Cartel Office, more than 90 percent of food retail sales already come from the four companies.

The Monopolies Commission explained that it had shown in a report that concentration had increased significantly over the past two decades – “not least through mergers”. The takeover of the Tegut branches by Edeka continues this development. It is “painful for competition that another dealer disappears from the market,” explained Duso.

On Monday, after a thorough examination, the Federal Cartel Office allowed Edeka to take over 178 Tegut branches and other parts of the company. To this end, Edeka has committed not to acquire a further 24 Tegut locations for a period of four years, the cartel office explained.

Law firm sales break eleven billion euro threshold

The law firm market in Germany once again grew impressively in the 2025 financial year. The 100 commercial law firms with the highest turnover collectively generated sales of more than eleven billion euros. Compared to the previous year, this corresponds to growth of 5.4 percent. A respectable result in a year full of upheaval, according to the Cologne industry service Juve, which researched the financial key figures of the mix of major international law firms, German law firms and specialized law firm boutiques.

In the analysis published on Wednesday, two values ​​are particularly noticeable. On the one hand, the law firms across the market were able to significantly increase their productivity again. Each lawyer in the top 100 law firms earned an average of 712,000 euros (+6.7 percent). This is also a new record for the German law firm market. However, unlike previous financial years, this growth was not due to further recruitment of lawyers. The number of partners and employed lawyers stagnated and, according to Juve, stood at a good 16,700 full-time positions. The study states: “Market growth is decoupled from personnel deployment.”

In the group of ten units with the highest sales, Freshfields remains at the top with 597 million euros, followed by CMS Hasche Sigle with 445 million euros and Hengeler Mueller with 409 million euros. The US law firm Latham & Watkins made the biggest jump with growth of 10.8 percent with 279 million euros. The major German law firm Gleiss Lutz achieved comparable increases with 10.4 percent to 319 million euros and the American law firm White & Case with 9.7 percent to 271 million euros.

What is striking is the growth of US law firms, which are often able to charge higher hourly fees than their German competitors and act as advisors on large-volume private equity deals: Kirkland & Ellis, the law firm with the highest sales globally, was able to increase its sales in Germany by more than 55 percent to 123 million euros within a year. This is also reflected in the turnover per professional: only in 18 law firms does each lawyer generate an annual turnover of one million euros or more. With the exception of Hengeler Mueller and the top British law firm Linklaters, only lawyers from US commercial law firms have achieved this feat.

Report: New Apple boss plans far-reaching corporate restructuring

According to a media report, the new boss of the US technology group Apple is considering a far-reaching restructuring of the iPhone manufacturer. John Ternus' goal is to sharpen the focus on development, bring products to market at shorter intervals and make the organization leaner. The Bloomberg news agency reported this on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

One of the first considerations would be a move away from the traditional spring and fall release cycle. In addition, middle management positions should be eliminated in order to reduce the distance between the developers and the top management. There was initially no statement from Apple.

Ternus succeeded long-time Apple boss Tim Cook at the beginning of September. According to the report, cost-cutting measures have already been initiated within the group as Ternus looks for new sources of income. The hardware division has begun to cut positions in project management, affecting around half a dozen directors. There are also significant cuts in the teams for the voice assistant Siri, the Vision Pro headset and AI software development. Ternus also wants to examine how artificial intelligence (AI) can accelerate product development and take over tasks from employees.

Haribo is not building a new factory in Neuss

Contrary to what was originally planned, the confectionery manufacturer Haribo is not building a new factory