Severance Pay at Trumpf – Your Rights During Job Cuts

Job Cuts at Trumpf: Current Situation

The Ditzingen-based machine tool and laser technology manufacturer Trumpf is feeling the ongoing economic downturn clearly. On 9 May 2025, the company announced it would cut around 1,000 jobs worldwide, in response to cautious customer investment and declining incoming orders (Handelsblatt; produktion.de).

This is an announced plan. The specific approach is being negotiated with the works council (Betriebsrat), with a socially responsible reduction announced as the goal. What this means for your severance pay (Abfindung) depends on your individual situation.

The Figures at a Glance

• Around 1,000 jobs are to be cut worldwide (announced May 2025).
• Around 430 of roughly 6,200 jobs at the German headquarters locations (company figures).
• Locations: Ditzingen (head office), Gerlingen, Leonberg-Höfingen, Hettingen.
• Beforehand: a collectively agreed working-time reduction under the TV Beschäftigungssicherung (around 2,750 employees, minus ten percent working hours) and a pay waiver (around 1,400 employees) in exchange for job security, with no short-time work.
• Around 19,000 employees group-wide, of which about 9,500 are in Germany.

As of: September 2026. Figures based on publicly available reports (as of the announcement in May 2025).

Your Rights at a Glance

Important to know upfront: an automatic statutory right to severance pay (Abfindung) exists only in exceptional cases (for example, with an offer under § 1a KSchG). Usually, severance pay results from negotiation, a social plan, or a settlement. These points are key:

• Social plan: A social plan (§§ 111, 112 BetrVG) can be directly enforced via the arbitration board (Einigungsstelle) (§ 112 para. 4 BetrVG), meaning the works council (Betriebsrat) can force it through.
• Compensation for disadvantage: If the employer deviates from an agreed reconciliation of interests (Interessenausgleich) without a compelling reason, compensation for disadvantage under § 113 BetrVG may arise. This is linked to the reconciliation of interests, not to the social plan.
• Filing deadline: You must file an unfair dismissal claim (Kündigungsschutzklage) within three weeks of receiving notice (§ 4 KSchG). After that, the dismissal is deemed effective.
• Unemployment benefit: A termination agreement (Aufhebungsvertrag) can trigger a benefit suspension period (Sperrzeit) (§ 159 SGB III). This is distinct from the suspension of your claim if severance pay is paid without observing the notice period (§ 158 SGB III).
• Tax: The one-fifth rule (Fünftelregelung, § 34 EStG) can reduce the tax burden on your severance pay if there is a bunching of income. Since 1 January 2025, it is no longer applied via payroll but only during the income tax assessment.

The common rule of thumb (half a gross monthly salary per year of employment) is only a reference value, not an entitlement, actual severance payments achieved can be significantly higher or lower.

Reviewing Your Offer

Before you accept a termination agreement or voluntary offer, we typically check:

• Is the severance pay correctly calculated (gross salary, years of employment, bonus components)?
• Are garden leave, remaining holiday, outstanding bonus entitlement and reference letter properly regulated?
• How does accepting affect unemployment benefit (benefit suspension period under § 159 SGB III), pension and tax (one-fifth rule)?
• What is legally binding in any ongoing commitments around working-time reduction or pay waivers?

If You Are Dismissed

If Trumpf issues an operational dismissal, the 3-week deadline under § 4 KSchG applies. At a large, collectively bound company with a works council (Betriebsrat), the prospects of success for an unfair dismissal claim (Kündigungsschutzklage) are generally good, and proceedings often end with a severance payment as part of a settlement. The Stuttgart Labour Court is usually responsible for the headquarters locations.

How We Proceed at Team Abfindung

1. Initial consultation at no cost to you: we review your offer or dismissal.
2. Engagement: litigation funding with no upfront payment (RDG).
3. Negotiation through our partner law firm, MK Law.
4. Legal action if necessary at the Stuttgart Labour Court or the competent court.
5. Settlement or judgment, usually severance pay agreed at the conciliation hearing.

Note: Team Abfindung is an independent service provider and has no business relationship with TRUMPF SE + Co. KG. All information on the job cuts is based on publicly available reports (as of: September 2026).