Volkswagen: A further 12,000 jobs are to be cut by 2030

Volkswagen AG has announced an additional reduction of 12,000 jobs by 2030. This concerns the company structure that includes the Volkswagen brand, the components division, and group functions. The announcement followed talks with employee representatives in Hanover. It matters because the new figure comes on top of a major workforce reduction already agreed two years ago.

That earlier agreement covered more than 35,000 jobs by 2030. Volkswagen now wants to use further voluntary departure options and discuss transfer companies during the upcoming wage negotiations. Existing measures have mainly included phased retirement and severance payments. The company says the process should be socially responsible.

The planned changes are not yet fully designed. Employees would have to enter a transfer company voluntarily, while its duration and conditions would be negotiated with workers. Volkswagen says it will retain the future collective agreement and its employment guarantee through the end of 2030, despite the difficult situation.

The newly announced figure is 12,000 jobs by 2030. It is not Volkswagen’s first workforce reduction plan. Two years earlier, Volkswagen AG had already negotiated the removal of more than 35,000 positions by 2030. The new announcement therefore represents another substantial layer of cuts rather than a replacement for the earlier agreement.

The article also gives a broader group figure. Volkswagen chief executive Oliver Blume and the management board want to eliminate roughly 50,000 jobs worldwide by 2030, in addition to earlier reduction plans across the group. The 50,000 figure is therefore a further target, not a simple total of the 12,000 announced for Volkswagen AG.

These figures show the scale of Volkswagen’s restructuring. They also explain why negotiations with employees are politically and socially sensitive. The company is discussing transfer companies, voluntary departures, phased retirement, and severance payments, while promising to keep employment protection through 2030.

A transfer company is an interim organisation for employees whose positions are being eliminated. Instead of moving directly from Volkswagen into unemployment, workers can enter this temporary arrangement. Its purpose is to support a transition into another job. The model is usually established through a social plan or works agreement, and participation generally depends on employee consent.

In practice, a worker in the transfer company receives help finding a new position. That help can include career guidance, applications support, and further training. The Federal Employment Agency may cover part of the pay through transfer short-time work benefits. This creates time and resources for employees to build skills or find suitable work.

Volkswagen wants to discuss opening such companies in the forthcoming collective bargaining round. Their exact duration and conditions are not settled. The company says the arrangement should offer employees choices and support, while IG Metall rejects the proposal as publicly supported job reduction.

Employees who voluntarily enter a transfer company would leave their current role for a temporary transition arrangement. Their participation would not be compulsory. The aim would be to give them time and support while they look for another job, rather than ending employment without an organised next step.

Support could include help with applications, career planning, and further training. The Federal Employment Agency can potentially take over part of the pay through transfer short-time work benefits. The precise payment level, duration, and other conditions would not be automatic. They would need to be negotiated and formally agreed with employee representatives.

For Volkswagen workers, the practical outcome remains uncertain because no number of participants has been fixed. The company wants to discuss the option in collective bargaining beginning on 24 November. IG Metall opposes the proposal, while Volkswagen presents it as one part of a socially responsible restructuring with employee choice.

IG Metall opposes publicly supported transfer companies because it sees them as shifting the cost of Volkswagen’s job cuts onto the public. District leader Thorsten Gröger called the proposal a breach of collective-bargaining trust and said it lacked a viable legal foundation. The union argues that employees should not be moved into publicly funded arrangements simply to reduce company costs.

Its central argument is about responsibility. Gröger said taxpayers should not step in before shareholders do. In the union’s view, Volkswagen’s owners continue to receive dividends, so they should bear costs before public contributors are asked to help. IG Metall therefore rejects a process in which the company reduces its workforce while society partly supports affected employees.

The union says publicly funded transfer companies have generally been secured during major operational changes, such as plant changes or closures. It wants Volkswagen to protect jobs through new products, markets, and technological leadership instead. The dispute is expected to shape the collective bargaining talks starting 24 November.

Transfer companies are only one possible route for reducing Volkswagen’s workforce. The company also refers to voluntary departure instruments and says labour costs must be reduced. The guiding principle is that employees should have choices about how they leave or change direction, rather than facing an imposed outcome wherever possible.

Volkswagen has so far relied mainly on phased retirement and severance payments. Phased retirement allows eligible employees to reduce or end work earlier under agreed conditions. Severance payments provide money to employees who leave their jobs. The exact amounts and terms are not fixed in the article and would need to be negotiated where applicable.

The company now wants to use voluntary instruments as fully as possible. It will discuss these options, including possible transfer companies, with employee representatives in collective bargaining beginning on 24 November. Volkswagen also says its employment guarantee under the future collective agreement remains in place until the end of 2030.

The supplied article does not itself explain why carmakers worldwide are restructuring. In general, the shift to electric vehicles changes manufacturing and supply chains. Electric drivetrains contain fewer mechanical parts than combustion engines, so some traditional production work can decline. Carmakers must also fund new technologies while controlling costs in a highly competitive market.

Software has become more important in vehicles, from operating systems to connected services and driver assistance. That increases demand for digital skills while reducing the importance of some older capabilities. Automation can further change how many workers are needed for particular tasks. Companies may therefore reorganise teams, retrain employees, or close activities that no longer fit their strategy.

New markets and products can also move work between locations and business units. Restructuring is intended to align costs, skills, and investment with future demand, but it can threaten existing jobs. In Volkswagen’s case, the article records cuts, voluntary exit tools, and proposed transfer companies, while the union demands investment in products, markets, and technology.