Evonik Cuts 3,200 Jobs as Growth Strategy Sharpens

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Industry Briefing

• Evonik Industries AG plans to eliminate 3,200 positions worldwide between 2027 and 2029, including approximately 2,150 positions in Germany, as the company extends its Evonik Tailor Made efficiency program.
• The restructuring is being paired with a more selective growth strategy that assigns clearer roles to businesses and major German sites while directing investment toward growth markets, particularly Asia and the Americas.
• Evonik is also consolidating its portfolio, advancing the divestments of C4 chemicals (Oxeno GmbH) and infrastructure (Syneqt GmbH), while withdrawing from activities and smaller sites that the company says lack sufficient long-term prospects.
• The strategy extends beyond cost reduction: Evonik is seeking to rebalance revenue geographically across Europe, Asia and the Americas and concentrate resources on businesses classified as growth drivers or cash generators.
• According to GuideView's analysis, the announcement illustrates how major specialty-chemicals producers are combining portfolio specialization, geographic diversification and structural cost reduction as the industry contends with persistent competitive and economic pressure.

Evonik Links Cost Restructuring to a New Growth Framework

Evonik has outlined a three-year transformation program designed to reduce structural costs while concentrating capital and management attention on businesses and markets with stronger growth potential. The company's Executive Board and Supervisory Board discussed plans extending to 2030 during the annual strategy meeting, with the latest measures positioning the organization for the period beginning in 2027.

The centerpiece is the second implementation phase of Evonik Tailor Made. The first phase runs from 2024 through 2026; the second phase will begin in 2027 and continue through 2029. Evonik said detailed measures for the next phase will be completed by the end of 2026 and will include not filling vacant positions, early retirement arrangements and voluntary departures linked to severance payments.

“We are in a structural and economic crisis in our industry,” says interim CEO Claus Rettig, adding that Evonik intends to use the current “polycrisis” to change established structures and concentrate growth on its strengths, future-oriented topics and more lucrative markets.

The announcement follows Evonik's June 2026 decision to extend Tailor Made. At that time, the company said approximately 2,800 positions were expected to be reduced during the 2024–2026 phase, while the extension would remove another approximately 3,200 positions during 2027–2029.

Portfolio Roles Become Central to the Operating Model

A central element of the strategy is the classification of individual businesses according to their strategic role. Evonik plans to manage business units as either growth drivers or cash generators, allowing capital allocation and operational priorities to be aligned more explicitly with each business's contribution to the wider portfolio.

One example is the formation of the new Designed Polymer Solutions business line. The unit is being established around growth areas serving aerospace, automotive and gas-separation applications, including biogas and hydrogen. The move reflects Evonik's stated intention to organize businesses around specific markets and technologies rather than maintaining a broad portfolio without differentiated strategic roles.

At the same time, the company is progressing with portfolio exits. Evonik said the divestments of its large C4 chemicals business, Oxeno GmbH, and infrastructure business, Syneqt GmbH, are proceeding as planned. Smaller-site closures are being pursued within the same broader effort to reduce fragmentation and concentrate operations where the company sees stronger economic prospects.

Germany's Production Network to Receive More Defined Roles

Germany remains a major component of Evonik's production network, but the company intends to give each of its six major German production sites a clearer strategic profile. These profiles are intended to guide the future development of the sites, with implementation scheduled to begin immediately following the September strategy announcement.

The approach is already visible in recent German restructuring decisions. Evonik announced in September that its smaller sites in Hamburg and Bitterfeld are planned for closure in 2027, while the associated activities will be concentrated at larger German locations. Bitterfeld is scheduled to close at the end of April 2027, while the Hamburg operation is also being consolidated.

The company has also announced plans to consolidate precipitated-silica production from Rheinfelden and Düren into a new large-scale plant in Marl, scheduled to begin operations at the end of 2028, with the two older plants planned for closure by the end of 2029. Evonik has linked the move to efficiency, environmental performance, customer supply and competitiveness against lower-cost Asian production.

Asia and the Americas Identified as Key Growth Regions

Evonik's restructuring is therefore not solely a defensive cost-cutting exercise. The company has identified Asia and the Americas as regions with significant growth opportunities and is evaluating additional investments there. It also intends to use its existing European production network, which is concentrated largely in Germany, to serve customers in these markets more rapidly and consistently.

The stated long-term objective is a more balanced distribution of revenue across three major regions: Europe, Asia and the Americas. This geographic objective is significant for a global specialty-chemicals producer because it combines market expansion with an effort to reduce dependence on any single regional demand environment.

Evonik's recent investment announcements provide examples of this growth orientation. In Slovakia, the company has broken ground on an approximately €80 million biotechnology expansion at its Fermas site in Slovenská Ľupča, strengthening contract manufacturing capabilities for drug-substance applications. In Canada, Evonik is expanding lipid-based drug-delivery capabilities through a new GMP manufacturing facility in Vancouver.

These investments illustrate the strategic combination of portfolio concentration and targeted capacity expansion: resources are being withdrawn from activities viewed as structurally unattractive while capital is being directed toward healthcare, biotechnology and other technology-intensive applications where Evonik sees longer-term opportunities.

Leadership Frames Transformation Against a Volatile Chemical Market

Interim CEO Claus Rettig is overseeing the strategy at a time of leadership transition. Evonik's Supervisory Board appointed Rettig to the Executive Board effective September 1, 2026, and named him Deputy Chairman; he is serving as interim CEO while continuing his responsibility for the Asia region.

“Only as leaders in what we do will we be able to establish ourselves at the forefront of our industry in the long term,” Rettig says, emphasizing the need for flexibility as market conditions remain volatile.

Evonik's latest financial performance provides a mixed but relevant backdrop. In the second quarter of 2026, revenue increased 11 percent year over year, while adjusted EBITDA rose 7 percent to €271 million. Free cash flow was €49 million, compared with negative €211 million in the second quarter of 2025. The company nevertheless continued to describe the underlying conditions in the chemical industry as challenging and said improving debt ratios was important for creating future financial flexibility.

The company's 2025 financial profile also illustrates its scale: Evonik reported €14.1 billion in sales and €1.9 billion in adjusted EBITDA for 2025, with approximately 31,000 employees and operations in more than 100 countries.

GuideView Insight

What Happens Next

The detailed measures for the second phase of Evonik Tailor Made are expected to be completed by the end of 2026. The program will then run from 2027 through 2029, following the first implementation phase that began in 2024. At the same time, Evonik will continue defining the strategic roles of its major German sites and advancing its portfolio changes and targeted growth investments.

GuideView will be watching three indicators in particular: the pace at which the announced 3,200-position reduction is implemented, the degree to which investment shifts toward Asia and the Americas, and whether the redesigned business portfolio produces stronger growth and cash generation while preserving Evonik's position in specialty-chemicals technologies.