The labour market in Germany is flooded by managers as Volkswagen, like other car manufacturers, proceeds to dismissals of hundreds of managerial positions within the framework of massive cuts in administrative staff.
The same is true of other groups at a time when German car giants are under intense pressure from Chinese car manufacturers.
Manufacturers such as Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen «removed strains with fury»Magnus Tesner, a partner in the automotive industry in the IFP executive finding company.
Many of the executives were looking for new jobs, although their departure had been tempered by generous retirement packages, he added.
Positions for executives
An external executive finding consultant said he had been approached by VW to find new positions for 400 to 500 executives, the Financial Times notes. «I told them we couldn't do it... we don't have 400 staff seats to cover.», said recruitment manager.
VW has already begun to reduce the number of workers in its factories in Germany, but has drawn up plans to remove another 50,000 jobs in «indirect» business sectors such as management, product development and sales.
Porsche, the company's sports car brand, has also announced plans to remove 5,000 jobs, mainly in administrative positions.
VW's initial programme to cut 50,000 jobs in Germany by 2030 concerned employees in production and administrative positions across the group, including VW and Audi marks, as well as Cariad software unit.
However, these plans were not sufficient, and an internal analysis found that administrative costs were 30% higher than that of other manufacturers.
This difference «It was largely due to the complexity of the group structure at all levels», said financial director Arno Adlitz when presenting the group's results for the second quarter.
Even if VW eventually ends up abolishing 100,000 jobs — which is unlikely because of the resistance of trade unions — The group will still employ some 580,000 people, much higher than Toyota's 390,000 and the 335,000 employed by South Korean Hyundai.
Porsche
In Porsche, the last restructuring measures come to be added to an existing 3,900-seat reduction plan, including around 2,000 temporary workers employed in the factories.
The new program will largely leave workers unaffected, Porsche CEO Michael Leiters said Wednesday.
Porsche had «disproportionate growth in indirect sectors, but also . . where management positions were created», said Leiters, and now «intervene and make disproportionate cuts» In these areas.
Porsche removes certain sections and merges business sectors, while having reduced the number of positions on the board from eight to seven, she added.
BMW
Other German car companies are cutting jobs for office workers. BMW last week voluntarily proposed leaving to thousands of office employees, including product development and design sectors.
The Munich-based car industry is expected to fire 8,000 workers by the end of 2027 through this program, which does not include factory workers, according to a source near the company.
BMW will reorganise management and merge organizational units as part of its restructuring effort, BMW CEO Milan Nedelkovic told workers.
Source: OT
