A closer look at the anticipated developments in 2025 regarding turnover, EBIT, and personnel reveals that medium-sized companies — particularly those with annual turnovers between 500 million and one billion euros or with 1,000 to 5,000 employees — are pessimistic about the upcoming year. Forecasts are especially negative in southern Germany, where many medium-sized manufacturers, such as those in the mechanical engineering and automotive industries, are located. 

Many companies are already facing unavoidable deep cuts. From salary reductions and job cuts to relocations—the outlook for 2025 encompasses all these measures. The automotive industry is particularly affected: 68% of manufacturers and suppliers indicate they will implement layoffs, including socially responsible terminations, within the next twelve months. Over 60% of companies plan to relocate, and more than 70% intend to reduce bonuses and flexible salary components. 

On average, companies are planning to cut 16% of their costs. They identify the greatest savings potential in production costs, including direct personnel costs (56%), followed by material costs (54%), and finally personnel costs in administration (45%). These savings are primarily expected to be achieved through automation and productivity enhancements. 

However, transformation through cost and liquidity optimization alone falls short. It merely provides the necessary scope for strategic decisions and investments. When the market and competitive environment undergo profound changes, the strategy and business model must be consistently scrutinized and the top line optimized. It is therefore noteworthy that only 27% of the surveyed companies are focusing on streamlining their portfolios. This proportion should be significantly higher. 

Focusing on future assets should always be accompanied by investing in valuable resources and skills. The goal is to invest in areas that will create long-term competitive advantages while consistently divesting (prospectively) unprofitable business areas. Our study reveals a discrepancy here: almost 60% of the surveyed companies plan to launch innovations or expand into new business areas, markets, or regions. However, 70% criticize the fact that unprofitable business areas are often maintained for too long. 

The combination of cost and liquidity optimization with a realignment of strategy and business model makes restructuring more complex but significantly more future-oriented and sustainable. It is therefore crucial to support complex restructurings with measures tailored to the company's situation to develop and implement long-term competitive and, above all, profitable business models. This is precisely where a holistic restructuring approach, such as the one we pursue at Horváth, comes into play. To achieve sustainable business success, it is not only necessary to create competitive cost structures but also to make targeted investments in growth and innovation.