Volkswagen, Europe’s biggest car maker, said on Monday that it planned to step up job-cutting measures, particularly at its main plant in Wolfsburg, north Germany.
“Despite rising sales, the Volkswagen group still has considerable overcapacity and will therefore be intensifying its efforts to cut back manpower,” the car maker said in a statement.
“We have surplus manpower of the order of several thousand employees at our German sites, in particular Wolfsburg,” VW said.
The auto giant did not say exactly how many jobs were on the line, but a report in the latest edition of the weekly newsmagazine Der Spiegel quoted sources close to the company as saying that more than 10 000 job faced the chop.
Chairperson Bernd Pischetsrieder would inform the workforce of the impending cuts at a shop floor meeting at the main plant in Wolfsburg on Monday, VW said.
The cutbacks would be achieved via measures such as as early retirement.
“Furthermore, individual employees will be offered termination packages,” VW said.
The measures would apply to employees in all areas, including senior managers, it added. – AFP