Recruitment freezes and cutbacks for employees at Swiss

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• The Lufthansa Group is tightening its savings program due to rising costs and geopolitical uncertainties and is imposing a hiring freeze, among other things.
• Other measures include travel bans, reduced budgets, fewer training courses and stricter rules for external consultants.
• The fact that top management remuneration has risen significantly at the same time is a source of criticism.

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The Lufthansa Group is cracking down - in its anniversary year of all years. Rising kerosene prices and the geopolitical tensions surrounding Iran are putting the Group under massive pressure. Now comes the next cost-cutting measure - and it will directly affect the workforce.

An internal decision back in March raised eyebrows: since then, aircraft on short-haul routes have been cleaned less frequently. Now it appears that this was just the beginning. As reported by "Blick", an internal letter is to inform the workforce about the measures.

In the e-mail, Lufthansa manager Dieter Vranckx (53) informs employees of an immediate hiring freeze. Business trips with overnight stays in hotels are also prohibited with immediate effect. But that's not all: further training and team events are being cut back and project budgets reduced by ten percent across the board. New contracts with external consultants are taboo and existing ones must be renegotiated.

Salary increases for CEOs

The management cites "increasing economic uncertainty" as the reason, writes Blick. At the same time, the Group is also scrutinizing its fleet, route network and prices.

Another detail is causing displeasure: it was only at the beginning of April that it became known that the top management was earning significantly more. For example, the salary of former Swiss CEO Dieter Vranckx rose from around 500,000 euros to over 2.1 million euros.

Officially, the Group is keeping a low profile. Lufthansa did not wish to provide any further information on the cost-cutting measures and merely stated: "As a matter of principle, we do not comment on statements made internally." Swiss, on the other hand, confirms that it is also affected. However, media spokesperson Michael Pelzer emphasizes that the letter contains "basically no new information", as the workforce had already been informed internally beforehand.