Volkswagen’s layoffs in Germany are reduced to 35,000 people

Volkswagen, Europe’s largest automaker, will cut more than 35,000 jobs and reduce production capacity in Germany between now and 2030, while avoiding closing factories, according to AFP on December 20. This is part of an agreement reached on the 20th to save crisis-hit Volkswagen.

After reaching this compromise, the company’s management and unions expressed relief. After three months of tense negotiations and two strikes that brought the company’s factories to a standstill, the two sides finally reached a difficult compromise.

The agreement stipulates that by 2030, Volkswagen’s German factories will cut more than 35,000 employees, accounting for 29% of its total workforce, “in a socially acceptable way.”

Volkswagen’s plight is a microcosm of the overall plight of Germany, Europe’s largest economy. The economy has been hit by high energy prices and is facing a second consecutive year of contraction.

In addition to Volkswagen’s employees, the whole of Germany has been waiting for the country’s largest industrial employer to make a decision.

German parliamentary elections will be held on February 23 next year. The Volkswagen crisis was also a central issue in the election campaign.