Volkswagen plans to cut 100,000 jobs over the next five years

Volkswagen is preparing to eliminate up to 100,000 jobs over five years, an unprecedented restructuring for the company and Germany’s automotive sector. The group’s supervisory board unanimously approved the “2030 Future Plan,” adding about 50,000 job cuts worldwide to the 50,000 already decided in Germany since 2024.

The combined reductions would affect roughly 15% of Volkswagen’s global workforce across its 10 brands, including VW, Audi, Porsche, Seat and Skoda. The company said growing global competition, changing demand and technological shifts in the automotive industry made a major adjustment necessary.

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A major adjustment of personnel capacity to economic reality is essential.

The decision followed discussions about excess production capacity of 500,000 vehicles in Europe. Volkswagen said it could not currently guarantee competitive future production loads for four German plants, in Emden, Zwickau, Hanover and Neckarsulm, between 2031 and 2034.

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If these closures are not decided, they are also not ruled out.

The company stopped short of announcing closures, a politically explosive move. “If these closures are not decided, they are also not ruled out,” said automotive expert Ferdinand Dudenhöffer. Volkswagen said it was examining alternative uses for the affected sites and aimed to develop a new industrial organization for its European plants by mid-2027.

That caution helped management secure support from employee representatives and avoid an open labor crisis after almost two years of tense discussions. “We fought hard to obtain good solutions in this crisis situation,” said Christiane Benner, president of the IG Metall union and deputy chair of Volkswagen’s supervisory board.

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We fought hard to obtain good solutions in this crisis situation.