VW CEO Blume puts potential job cuts at a further 50,000 worldwide

In the conversation published on the VW intranet, which was available to the German Press Agency and the news magazine "Spiegel," Blume said: "Without a change in labor costs, we would be looking at a magnitude of around 50,000 jobs worldwide." The group CEO explicitly described the figure as a theoretical derivation rather than a fixed plan. The concrete scale would depend on whether and to what extent labor costs fall.

The additional 50,000 jobs would come on top of the already announced 50,000 positions that are to be cut within the group in Germany by 2030. According to Blume, 35,000 of these already approved positions are attributable to the core VW brand, with the remainder falling to subsidiaries such as Audi and Porsche. The current reductions will be implemented "in a socially responsible, voluntary" manner and "above all through partial-retirement arrangements," according to company circles.

Twenty percent above competitors

According to company information, more than 37,000 employees have already signed corresponding agreements. By the end of the year, approximately 27,000 employees are expected to have left the company. Blume had also recently stated that factory costs at the German sites had fallen by 20 percent over the past year.

The Volkswagen brand has been struggling for months with a structural cost gap. According to Blume's account, administrative, infrastructure and support costs in the core business are still around 20 percent above the average of comparable companies. "The corresponding costs at Volkswagen are still around 20 percent above the average of comparable companies," he said. Since roughly half of overhead costs stem from personnel costs, a purely theoretical calculation without any change in labor costs would result in a reduction of around 50,000 jobs worldwide.

Blume also emphasized that personnel costs do not depend solely on the number of employees but also on the level of labor costs. "We have to pull this lever as well," he said with an eye to upcoming negotiations. The group is currently examining across all brands, companies and regions which adjustments are "necessary and possible."

Sites in crisis mode

Against the backdrop of this cost structure, Blume has issued a grim forecast for four German plants: "The truth is also that today, for the Emden, Hanover, Zwickau and Neckarsulm plants, we cannot yet confirm competitive utilization in the 2030s." This leaves open how these sites are to be utilized beyond the end of the current decade. According to media reports, Hanover, Emden, Zwickau and the Audi plant in Neckarsulm are threatened by possible closures.

At the same time, Blume did not categorically rule out plant closures. "Intelligent solutions are always better than closing a plant," he said on the intranet, but added: "Excess capacities cost money." In doing so, he indirectly acknowledged that individual sites could be up for disposal if no alternative uses can be found.

Osnabrück: Talks with the defense industry

For the Osnabrück site, according to Blume, there are more concrete prospects. Volkswagen is in "advanced talks" with companies from the defense industry regarding the Osnabrück site, he explained. This suggests a possible civilian-military dual use of the plant, which is considered unusual in the industry but not ruled out.

Works council: Conditions no longer tolerable

Reactions from the workforce are correspondingly concerned. A spokesperson for the VW Group Works Council said on Sunday that the situation for employees was scarcely bearable any longer: "Especially for our more than 40,000 colleagues at the five sites – Emden, Hanover, Neckarsulm, Osnabrück and Zwickau – which have been known by name for weeks, and whose threatened closure, sooner or later, has dominated the headlines for weeks, this situation is simply no longer tolerable." The works council had previously identified a clear loss of trust among the workforce. The situation was also barely sustainable for suppliers, service providers and entire site regions.

Political reactions were not long in coming. Hanover's mayor Belit Onay, who is a Green Party politician, described it as absurd to lay off highly qualified personnel and let state-of-the-art factories wind down in the face of international competition. "With a view to international competition, it is absurd to consider sending highly qualified personnel home and letting top modern factories wind down," he said. Onay called on the group to make a clear commitment to Germany as a business location.

Politicians demand commitment to sites

Emden's mayor Tim Kruithoff called for "creative and intelligent solutions" rather than repeated discussions about plant closures or creeping capacity reductions. He expected a long-term perspective for Emden with new products, new tasks and further investments. Sebastian Lechner, chairman of the CDU parliamentary group in the Lower Saxony state parliament, emphasized the group's special connection to the state: "Volkswagen is connected to Lower Saxony and its people in a special way. That is why preserving and securing the future viability of the Lower Saxon sites is our highest priority as state politicians."

Failed savings package in the supervisory board

Blume's remarks come at an already tense phase. Just a few days earlier, a supervisory board meeting had been held on a Thursday, at which Blume had reportedly failed with a more far-reaching savings package. According to "Spiegel" and other media, this package would have envisaged job cuts of up to 100,000, and in some reports even up to 120,000 positions worldwide. The fact that Blume is now citing the figure of 50,000 himself is seen as an attempt to sort out his own position vis-à-vis the shop floor, management and the public.

Volkswagen is regarded as the largest European automaker and Germany's largest industrial group. The company had already announced in 2024 that it would significantly tighten its cost side in order to remain internationally competitive. The current statements show that this process has gained further sharpness – and that negotiations with the employee side are entering a decisive phase.

The group pointed out that the figures cited represent scenarios, not fixed plans. Blume said on this: "It is important to us to secure employment." Whether this goal can be achieved, and by what means, will become clear in the coming weeks and months – not least in the talks on the future of the five sites that are particularly in focus.