Volkswagen eyeing to cut 30,000 jobs

The German automaker Volkswagen AG has agreed, with its labor unions, to cut 30,000 jobs globally to save 3.7 billion euros (around P195.8 billion), according to Automotive News. This is an attempt to recover from the recent emissions-cheating scandal.

Volkswagen, which has 624,000 employees globally, is said to point its head toward investing into electric vehicles, aiming to sell as many as 3 million of it per year by 2025. The reduction of roughly 5% of its headcount posts as an imminent step toward this goal.

Meanwhile, out of the 30,000 jobs, 23,000 will be taken out from Germany alone. The remaining figures will be eliminated from North America, Brazil, and Argentina as to what Volkswagen said. The job cuts, according to reports, will come from early retirement and not replacing leaving workers.

In contrary, the company agreed to build 2 electric cars, each in Wolfsburg and Zwickau, Germany. This allows the company to open additional 9,000 positions for electric vehicle and digital feature projects in the future. 

The VW brand, which is almost half of the group's sales, is reported to have been struggling even before the said emission scandal last year. This pulled down the carmaker's reputation, discharging 18.2 billion euros (around P962.9 billion) for fines and repairs. It was stated that the unit's operating profit shrinked to 1.6% in the first 9 months, compared from the 2.8% the earlier year. 

Now, Volkswagen is considered to be one of the biggest corporate spenders in the world with around 12 billion euros (about P634.9 billion) annual capital.  

Volkswagen Group sells passenger cars under Audi, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, Bentley, Škoda, Porsche, and Volkswagen marques; motorcycles under the Ducati brand; and commercial vehicles under MAN, Scania, Neoplan, and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles.

Source: Automotive News