Volkswagen to Close at Least Three Plants in Germany and Fire Tens of Thousands of People

German carmaker Volkswagen plans to close at least three plants in the country and cut tens of thousands of jobs, Deutsche Welle reports, citing the group's works council.

It added that employees who remain with the group should expect an 18 per cent pay cut.

‘The board wants to close at least three VW plants in Germany. It claims that such reductions are a necessary measure,’ German agencies quoted Daniela Cavallo, chairman of the works council, as saying.

According to her, the cuts will affect all VW plants in one way or another, and entire departments may be closed or transferred abroad. ‘These plans affect all German VW plants. None of them are safe,’ Cavallo said. 

The VW plant in Osnabrück, which recently lost an expected follow-on order from Porsche, is allegedly under particular threat of closure. 

In September, Volkswagen announced that it did not rule out plant closures and business-critical layoffs as part of its 2023 cost-saving programme. 

Volkswagen employs around 120,000 people in Germany, about half of whom work at its headquarters and main plant in Wolfsburg. 

VW operates a total of 10 plants in Germany, six of which are in Lower Saxony, three in the eastern state of Saxony and one in the western state of Hesse. In September, Volkswagen terminated a long-term job security agreement with trade unions that had been in place for more than 30 years. Layoffs are now possible from mid-2025.