Agency Report –
Wolfsburg, Germany – German car giant Volkswagen said on Tuesday it had already agreed on 20,000 job cuts in Germany by 2030 as part of its cost-cutting efforts.
“Around 20,000 exits from the company by 2030 are already contractually fixed,” said personnel manager Gunnar Kilian at a company meeting in the northern city of Wolfsburg.
The figure represents well over half of the 35,000 positions Volkswagen has pledged to cut in Germany by 2035 as it seeks to increase profitability.
The job cut, out of a total German workforce of 130,000 employees, was agreed by management and trade unions in December after several rounds of negotiations.
The company ruled out redundancies for operational reasons, with the reduction set to be achieved primarily through early retirement and severance payments.
“The first measures of our ‘Future Volkswagen’ are taking shape, and we are on course,” said Kilian. “With measurable progress in factory costs in Wolfsburg, and job cuts in accordance with social contracts at Volkswagen’s six German locations, we are speeding up our transformation.”
Despite the progress, finance chief David Powels said “a lot of work is ahead” to ensure Volkswagen – Europe’s largest carmaker – is competitive and fit for the future by 2029.
