Volkswagen may need another 50,000 job cuts, CEO tells staff
Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume told staff the automaker may need another 50,000 job cuts after already agreeing 50,000 reductions. He said the group faces a 20% cost disadvantage and is reviewing further restructuring steps.
BERLIN: Volkswagen may have to eliminate around 50,000 additional jobs to narrow its competitive gap with rivals, Chief Executive Officer Oliver Blume told employees in an internal memo, effectively confirming for the first time that the carmaker is examining reductions of up to 100,000 positions worldwide.
Volkswagen has already agreed to cut 50,000 jobs across the group, including at Porsche and Audi. Blume said the company had calculated a 20% cost disadvantage compared with similar companies, which translated into what he described in the document as a theoretical need for another 50,000 job reductions.
Volkswagen, Europe’s largest automaker, is under pressure as profits have fallen amid billions of euros in tariff-related costs, intense competition in China and demands to improve efficiency at its manufacturing operations in Germany. The company had previously declined to comment on reports that it was considering as many as 100,000 job cuts.
Blume said the company was reviewing what scale of further action would be required and possible across its operations.
We are currently assessing across all brands, companies and regions how many adjustments are actually necessary and feasible.
The memo came after workers demanded that management clarify its restructuring plans. Blume presented those proposals to Volkswagen’s supervisory board on Thursday.
Labour representatives on the supervisory board blocked the proposals. Those plans were said to include additional job cuts and the possible closure of four factories.
In the memo, Blume also raised uncertainty over the future use of several plants in the next decade.
As of today, we still cannot confirm competitive use cases for the plants of Emden, Hanover, Zwickau and Neckarsulm in the 2030s.
He said he preferred intelligent solutions over plant closures. He had earlier pointed to possible alternatives for underused sites, including work linked to the defence industry or manufacturing Chinese Volkswagen models in Europe.
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