Volkswagen to cut thousands of jobs in Germany
Volkswagen today said it planned to cut its workforce in Germany, complaining that its car factories had “several thousand” surplus employees.
Volkswagen said it would extend an existing early-retirement program to more workers and others would be offered termination packages to persuade them to leave. It did not say how many jobs would go or when.
“These measures apply to employees in all areas, including senior managers,” VW said in a statement.
Volkswagen has agreements with unions which rule out firing any workers in Germany until 2011.
VW suggested the cuts could come largely at its flagship plant in Wolfsburg, even if it is chosen to produce a new compact sports utility vehicle.
“This would be an important decision for the site. However, it would not alter the fact that Volkswagen has surplus manpower of the order of several thousand employees at its German sites, in particular Wolfsburg,” the statement said.
