Volkswagen announced its intention to close at least three of its floors In Germany and reduce tens of thousands of jobsas reported by the chairman of the works council, Daniela Cavalloduring an event with employees of an automobile company this Monday.
The news broke concern at Volkswagen Navarra. It is not for nothing that the German factory directly employs more than 5,000 people in Navarre and another 18,000 indirectly.
Cavallo, in statements collected by DPA, indicated that the remaining Volkswagen factories in Germany will be affected by the management plan, which also considers a possible general reduction in wages. The union leader and other union representatives promised “a fierce resistance “I can only warn all members of the board of directors and those at the top of the company: do not joke with us, Volkswagen employees,” Cavallo said.
The German union IG Metalwhich represents the majority of workers at the manufacturer’s factories, has also expressed opposition to any factory closures or significant reductions. “This is a blow to the hearts of Volkswagen workers,” he said. Thorsten Grögerregional director of the union Lower Saxonywhere Volkswagen’s headquarters are located.
For their part, the Volkswagen executives defended their cost-cutting plans, although they did not directly comment on the reports on elimination of tens of thousands of jobs. The CEO of Volkswagen, Thomas Schäferemphasized that the costs in German factories have increased significantly. “We cannot continue as before,” Schäfer stressed. “We are not productive enough in our German factories and our manufacturing costs are currently 25% to 50% higher than expected. “This means that German factories are twice as expensive as those of the competition,” he said.
Schäfer’s statement was released shortly after statements by Horse. Gunnar Kiliandirector of human resources at Volkswagen, also stated that “without comprehensive measures to regain competitivenesswe will not be able to make significant investments in the future.” Kilian did not specify the details of the planned cost-cutting measures, but stressed that “the situation is serious and the responsibility of the negotiating partners is enormous” “We will respect the initial agreement with management that the discussion on the future of Volkswagen should first be conducted internally with our negotiating partners,” he added.
Volkswagen announced that it would present “concrete proposals to reduce labor costs” before collective negotiations planned with the unions on Wednesday.
Cavallo urged Volkswagen executives to provide a holistic view of the the future of the groupinstead of just implementing individual cutting measurements. “With us there will be no ‘cutting’ tactics, no partial solutions or lazy compromises,” he said.
The group’s factory in Osnabrückwho recently lost an order of Porschefaces a particular risk of closure. Cavallo said they are also planned massive layoffsentire departments at risk of being closed or relocated abroad. “All German Volkswagen factories are affected for these plans. None of them are safe,” added the president of the works council, without providing further details.
Volkswagen employs approximately 120,000 people in Germany, around half at the headquarters and in the main plant of Wolfsburg. The company operates a total of 10 factories in the country: six in Lower Saxony, three in Saxony oriental and one in Hesse. In September, Volkswagen ended a job security agreement that had been in place for more than 30 years. As a result, layoffs could take place as early as mid-year. 2025. Volkswagen has not closed a factory in Germany or anywhere else in the world in more than three decades, making the September announcement significant news that has raised concerns about the German economy as a whole.
Following the works council’s announcement, the German government urged Volkswagen to protect jobs. A government spokesperson stressed that the Chancellor Olaf Scholz believes that “possibly erroneous decisions made by management in the past should not harm workers.”
