What can German society do in view of the impending gas shortage in the coming winter? Henkel is also thinking about this.

The consumer goods manufacturer Henkel is considering temporarily reintroducing more home office to save gas. “We could then lower the temperature in the offices significantly, while our employees could heat at home to the normal extent,” said Henkel boss Carsten Knobel of the “Rheinische Post”.

In addition, the group can use more coal and oil in its company-owned power plant in Düsseldorf, which is currently mainly operated with gas. “Compared to today’s operation, we could save almost a third of the gas,” said the manager. But the company is still waiting for approval from the Federal Network Agency.

With a view to the challenges of the energy crisis in the coming winter, Knobel said: “I’m optimistic that we can do it”. But it is important to save as much gas as possible by winter so that the storage tanks are sufficiently filled.

According to the manager, Henkel wants to cut around 300 jobs in Germany by the end of 2023 – around 15 percent of the workforce – as part of the reorganization of the consumer goods division. The group will try to avoid operational layoffs. Around 2,000 jobs will be lost worldwide as a result of the merger of the detergents and body care divisions.