A Tough Road Ahead: 35,000 Volksie Workers on the Line for Job Cuts or Early Retirement
Multiple Volkswagen workers opt for part-time absences
Chopping out the excess, Volkswagen prepares to slash tens of thousands of jobs by 2030 to restore its competitive edge. Currently, about 20,000 employees have agreed to ride the chopping block.
As part of its cost-cutting spree, the VW group is well on its way, boasting a total of 20,000 job cuts by 2030 already locked down. According to Gunnar Kilian, personnel director, during a works meeting in Wolfsburg, a whopping 20,000 exits from the company by 2030 are already in the pipeline. To streamline indirect personnel costs, the company is offering early retirement, age regulation, and severance packages as part of their comprehensive restructuring plan. Those choosing early retirement or age regulation won't receive an extra dollar in severance pay, with around two-thirds opting for the early retirement route, as per Bild newspaper.
The size of the severance package - reportedly up to 400,000 euros, per the newspaper - is based on the length of service with the automaker. Volkswagen is optimistic that it'll manage to ax 35,000 jobs in Germany by 2030, with the next phase targeting the large cohorts of 1969 and 1970. All told, over a quarter of the 130,000 jobs are due for the chop.
In a hair-raising race for survival, the Volkswagen crisis is "riding on a razor's edge," economist Reitz asserted. On the brink of the New Year, agreements between the companies and employee representatives gave birth to a comprehensive savings program for the core VW brand after a heated wage dispute. Plant closures and job cuts were looming, but, for the time being, they've been successfully avoided.
"The first measures of the 'Future Volkswagen' agreement are being executed, and we're right on track," Kilian stated. "Factory costs in Wolfsburg are showing a downward trend, and socially agreed job cuts at the six German sites of Volkswagen AG are accelerating our transformation." Though we've made significant strides, we're yet from our savings course goal, added David Powels, brand finance director: "We've still got a mountain of work ahead of us for the future." The aim is to make Volkswagen competitive and to secure its future by 2029.
Source: ntv.de, chl/dpa
- Job Cuts
- Severance Packages
- Volkswagen Transformation
- To facilitate its transformation, Volkswagen offers severance packages as part of its comprehensive restructuring plan, aiming to cut 35,000 jobs by 2030, with the community policy including early retirement and age regulation.
- Amidst its cost-cutting drive, the company's savings program for the core VW brand includes job cuts, explicitly targeting large cohorts such as those from 1969 and 1970, aligning with the industry's necessity and the company's financial reorganization goals.
