Volkswagen plans to cut up to 100,000 jobs, says Financial Times

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Volkswagen plans to cut up to 100,000 jobs and close production at four factories in Germany, the English newspaper Financial Times published this Friday (26). 625,000 company jobs worldwide, making it one of the largest layoff programs in the history of the automobile industry.
If implemented, the plan could become one of the largest layoff programs in history, surpassing the 74,000 jobs cut by General Motors in the 1990s and the 60,000 eliminated by IBM in 1993.
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Volkswagen, headquartered in Wolfsburg, had already announced its intention to eliminate 50,000 jobs in Germany by the end of 2030 and reduce its production capacity in the country by 500,000 vehicles.
According to a source familiar with the plan, the new proposal - initially revealed by the German magazine Manager Magazin - could lead to the cutting of another 50,000 jobs, in addition to what was previously foreseen.
In the past, job reduction targets at Volkswagen ended up being softened after negotiations with the workers.
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The new restructuring measures were announced shortly after the sale of the Everllence marine engine division to the American manager Bain Capital, an operation that should yield 7.4 billion euros to the company.
Volkswagen's chief executive, Oliver Blume, has been promoting a downsizing of the group's structure to concentrate efforts on the main automobile business. The expectation is that the company will also sell other assets to reinforce its cash flow, given the growing pressure on the sector.
Agreements and tariffs
At the end of 2024, Volkswagen reached a historic agreement with unions to reduce jobs and production capacity in Germany. Now, the automaker claims that tariffs imposed by the United States, the conflict in the Middle East and the worsening situation in the Chinese market have made new measures necessary.
Under the previous plan, the company closed a small factory in Dresden, in eastern Germany. It is also looking for a buyer for its unit in Osnabrück, whose production is expected to end next year, and has even negotiated the sale of the factory with a company linked to the Israeli Iron Dome missile defense system.
The new proposal foresees the end of production in four other factories: the Volkswagen units in Emden, Zwickau and Hanover, in addition to the Audi factory in Neckarsulm.
Blume has already stated that closing factories was definitely not his preferred option. According to him, the company was looking for "intelligent" solutions, such as producing Chinese Volkswagen models at these units or transferring them to other automakers or companies in the defense sector.
European automakers have been losing space to Chinese manufacturers, which accounted for almost 10% of new vehicles sold in Europe in the first five months of this year, according to the European automobile industry association, Acea.
"Never has the level of risk been so high," Blume told shareholders during Volkswagen's annual meeting, held at last week.
The company aims to save 6 billion euros per year by 2030 with the restructuring and stated that cost reduction continues to be "the area where there is the greatest need for action".
Volkswagen declined to comment on the new plan to the Financial Times, details of which are due to be presented to the company's supervisory board on July 9.
"The matters in question are discussed and approved by the competent governance bodies. We will not pre-empt this process," the company said.
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Source: G1