IONOS cuts 450 jobs, Logroño fears for Arsys's 360

IONOS cuts 450 jobs: Arsys still doesn't know the impact in Logroño

There is a paradox that summarizes this week's announcement. IONOS boasts about selling domains for one euro the first year and hosting at rock-bottom prices, while simultaneously announcing that it has 450 workers remaining before the end of the year. Its subsidiary, Arsys, with 360 employees, still does not know how many of them are on that list. The German group will transition from 3,800 to 3,350 staff members—a global adjustment whose specific impact in Logroño remains undefined.

The 12% that press releases call synergies

The arithmetic is simple: going from 3,800 to 3,350 means losing 450 positions, or 12% of the total. In corporate language, this is called synergies; on the street, it's layoffs. Arsys has 360 employees, and the exact impact on them has not been detailed—a silence that in La Rioja is read as a bad sign.

The pattern is not new. You buy the competitor, keep their customer base, and absorb the duplicated structure behind them. Logroño was Arsys's main office for years; now it remains just another branch to face this kind of situation.

Why a one-euro domain leads to staff cuts

Hosting is a commoditized market until the very end. Some summarize it with two invoices: a domain for 1 euro the first year that jumps to 15 the next, or a provider charging 28 euros initially and aiming for 142 later. This escalation is not an error; it is the model: the first year is sold at a loss to attract customers, and the second year charges the real price from a client who stays due to inertia or antiestéticar of losing email.

And the market floor sinks. Figures circulating point to drops in Google searches of 2-3% in 2025 and projected 5-8% for 2026, with clickless traffic gaining ground. Less browsing, fewer websites to host, fewer reasons to maintain the structure.

Where is the real margin

The money doesn't come from the cheap domain; it comes from the sleeping client. Automatic renewals at a high price, corporate email that nobody cancels, certificates, backups, and "premium security" billed separately. Invoices have been documented with surcharges for services the client doesn't even use, and even a dedicated virtual server sold to someone who didn't have a website. That is the business: the portfolio that doesn't read the fine print.

The final paradox is that the model holds up even if part of the clientele leaves, because those who stay pay for those who leave. With margins like these, it is surprising that a company of this size needs to cut 450 positions. Or perhaps not so many: the business that grows is not the one hosting websites, but the one charging those already inside. How many of Arsys's 360 employees will remain on the payroll when IONOS closes the adjustment?