Volkswagen chief Oliver Blume cuts 100,000 jobs overall: Markets cheer, but many employees remain anxious

Oliver Blume reached his fourth anniversary as Volkswagen Group chief with a decision that finally gave him reason to celebrate: the supervisory board approved important parts of his “Strategy 2030.” Investors responded the next day by sending Volkswagen shares sharply higher. Many employees, however, still face uncertainty as the restructuring continues.

The current management team has achieved something previous Volkswagen leaders often failed to do, according to the article: advance a socially responsible overhaul of the deeply entrenched automaker. Blume’s consensus-driven, factual management style has often helped reduce resistance from powerful trade unions at the Wolfsburg headquarters. Even the toughest IG Metall negotiators understand the seriousness of Volkswagen’s position.

Blume began by shrinking the executive board from 12 members to nine. A year later, he introduced a performance program for all group brands, complete with specific profitability targets. For the core Volkswagen brand, which the article describes as chronically inefficient and weakly profitable for years, he set an operating return target of 6.3 percent.

The hoped-for economic tailwind did not arrive. The Ukraine war, falling sales in China and Volkswagen’s own errors worsened the situation. European sales never returned to their pre-pandemic level, leaving the group roughly 500,000 vehicles short, equivalent to about two factories. In late 2024, Blume secured approval for a socially responsible reduction of 50,000 jobs, including 35,000 at the Volkswagen brand and the remainder at Audi and Porsche. The article says he later had to recognize that even this was not enough.