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🇩🇪 Germany /Economy & Trade

Volkswagen agrees to savings plan that could cut another 50,000 jobs

From Die Zeit · () German

Translated from German and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Newswire From a news agency Approved/passed
  • Volkswagen’s supervisory board unanimously approved a cost-cutting and transformation plan that could eliminate about 50,000 additional jobs in the coming years.
  • The company said it could not guarantee competitive future production at plants in Emden, Zwickau, Hanover and Neckarsulm from 2031 to 2034.
  • IG Metall and the works council said the agreement prevented an escalation, while stressing that no plant closure had been finalized.

Volkswagen’s supervisory board has unanimously approved the company’s Future Plan 2030, including a further reduction of roughly 50,000 jobs worldwide. The agreement came after earlier savings proposals met resistance from employee representatives and the state.

The future plan creates the conditions to make the Volkswagen Group and its brands more capable, more competitive and more future-oriented.

· VolkswagenThe company described the purpose of the approved transformation plan.

Volkswagen said the staffing adjustment was needed to meet the goals of its transformation program. The company also said it could not guarantee competitive follow-up production at the Emden, Zwickau, Hanover and Neckarsulm plants from 2031 to 2034. It will examine alternative uses for those sites in parallel.

A concept for a sustainable and competitive production structure across the European plants is due by the end of June 2027. Volkswagen said the plan would make the group and its brands more capable, competitive and focused on the future, and called its implementation necessary to preserve the company’s competitiveness.

The implementation of the future plan is, in the view of the management board and supervisory board, absolutely necessary to maintain the competitiveness of the Volkswagen Group and secure it sustainably for the future.

· Volkswagen management and supervisory boardThe boards explained why they considered the plan necessary.

IG Metall and the company’s works council said the agreement had prevented an escalation. Union leader Christiane Benner and works council chief Daniela Cavallo criticized the board’s recent confrontational approach and communications, but said the planned separation of the Volkswagen passenger-car brand and the components business was off the table.

The confrontational course and the board’s communication in recent weeks were not constructive.

· Christiane Benner and Daniela CavalloThe union and works council leaders criticized management’s approach.

“No plant has been abandoned, and contrary to several media reports, no plant closure has been finalized,” they said. They added that concrete solutions must now be developed for every site, with the board responsible for delivering them.

No plant has been abandoned, and contrary to several media reports, no plant closure has been finalized.

· Christiane Benner and Daniela CavalloThey said the agreement did not approve the closure of any Volkswagen plant.
About this summary

Originally published by Die Zeit in German. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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