Germany's metal and electrical engineering industry could lose up to 150,000 jobs this year, according to the Gesamtmetall employers' association. The association's CEO, Oliver Zander, told Funke media group: "We are in the midst of an industrial downturn with very bleak prospects, the situation is truly catastrophic." He added that the sector he represents is going through "the biggest crisis since the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany." Zander, like many other representatives of economic associations, believes that rising costs for companies in Germany are the main cause of the crisis. "We have extremely high energy costs, extremely high corporate taxes, extremely high social contributions, and a lot of bureaucracy," he said.
