In the town of Nauen, Brandenburg — built into the industrial fabric of reunified Germany — Bosch is closing a washing machine factory that has operated profitably for thirty-three years, eliminating 450 jobs by mid-2027. The plant was conceived as a low-cost alternative to its Western counterpart, and its workers have spent three decades earning less, working longer, and receiving fewer protections than colleagues in the old West. That the parent company posted €3.5 billion in profit in 2024 makes the closure not a story of economic necessity, but one of strategic choice — and of who, in the
Bosch to close washing machine plant near Berlin, cutting 450 jobs
450 workers will lose jobs at the Nauen plant, with 1,400 total job cuts across BSH; workers have endured 33 years of lower wages and longer hours than Western counterparts.