VW to Cut 23,000 Jobs In Germany, Invest €3.5 Billion To Revive Core Brand

As Volkswagen is looking to come out clean from the cheating emissions scandal and become competitive on an entirely new level, cost-saving measures need to be applied.

These will include the loss of 23,000 jobs in conventional areas of Germany, but nobody will be fired, as the measures will be applied via natural fluctuation and partial early retirement, according to an agreement signed by the Board of Management and General Works Council of Volkswagen.

The car company will apparently drop another 7,000 jobs outside its home market, as Reuters writes, pointing the finger at North America, Brazil, and Argentina.

However, not everything is as dark as it seems, because VW has pledged to create 9,000 new jobs, mostly in Germany, in the area of electric vehicles, as these will be put together in the Zwickau and Wolfsburg facilities. Additionally, the company will also produce electric motors in Kassel, while battery cell assembly will take place in Salzgitter and Braunschweig.

Volkswagen’s plan is expected to lead to €3.7 billion (~$4 billion) in annual efficiency gains by the turn of the decade, out of which German facilities will account for €3.0 billion ($3.2 billion). Moreover, the company will also invest €3.5 billion ($3.7 billion), for the transformation of its core brand, in zero-emissions and self-driving vehicles.

“The new cars based on the Modular Electric Drive Kit and electric components from our plants will make our German locations pioneers of electrification within the Volkswagen Group. The Works Council has ensured that these future-oriented vehicles will be made in Germany and not in other countries. Of course, the pact for the future has positive and negative aspects. However, it represents an acceptable compromise for both parties, reached after a long struggle. We have now achieved a reasonable result“, said Bernd Osterloh, General Works Council Chairman.