The bad news for Slovakia's car industry is arriving not as a single blow but in instalments. Schaeffler, the German supplier, announced last week that it will cut hundreds of jobs in Slovakia, with measures tied to part of its bearing production unfolding over four years — a slow-motion retrenchment that mirrors the wider crisis gripping Europe's automotive supply base.
"Measures at the Slovak plants relating to part of our bearing production are planned over a four-year period, from 2027 to 2030," said Miroslav Janota, who heads Schaeffler's operations in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The sites in the spotlight are Skalica and Kysuce, where the company plans to adjust production and development capacities. The phased timeline may spread the pain, but it also means uncertainty will hang over the region for years to come.
Slovakia is not shouldering the burden alone. Across Europe, Schaeffler is cutting 3,460 jobs and shutting down five plants, with operations to be discontinued at its Berlin and Schwalbach sites and toolmaking set to cease at Höchstadt. Capacity adjustments are also planned at Haguenau and Toulouse in France — a map of retrenchment stretching across the continent.
For the trade and logistics networks that move components through Central Europe, the signal is hard to miss. When a tier-one giant trims capacity at two Slovak plants, the ripples reach freight forwarders, packaging suppliers and the smaller firms clustered around Schaeffler's operations. Tellingly, Schaeffler is also eyeing defence as a growth field — a sign of where German industrial engineering sees its future as the car industry's present grows darker.
For Slovakia, a country whose industrial fortunes lean heavily on the car industry, the four-year runway at least offers time — for retraining, for diversification, for policymakers and unions to negotiate softer landings. But the direction of travel is unmistakable: Europe's automotive supply base is contracting, and Slovak workers are once again bearing the cost.
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