Volkswagen (VW) plans to cut a quarter of its management positions as part of austerity measures. The news was announced by Oliver Blume, CEO of the German automaker.
During a visit to the VW plant in Emden, he noted that management is under strict control and a quarter of jobs are planned to be eliminated.
Speaking of the upcoming general staff cuts, Volkswagen's CEO said that the next phase will focus mainly on costs outside direct car production, i.e. administrative staff, central services, development and sales.
In the spring, Blume announced the start of work on a new strategy and his intention to significantly tighten the cost-cutting policy. Since then, a battle has been waged for tens of thousands of jobs and four of the company's plants. The recently mentioned figure of 50,000 employees was described by the carmaker's CEO not as a "target" but as a "theoretical estimate" resulting from cost optimization. He sees roughly half of these cuts in Germany and the other half worldwide, in the company's roughly 170 divisions.
On August 25, the newspaper "Bild" reported that Blume had been booed during a production meeting at the company's headquarters in Wolfsburg. Some employees held up signs expressing dissatisfaction with the company's management. It was only when Blume addressed the workforce that the booing stopped.