Demand is weakening
VW is cutting jobs at the Zwickau electric car factory
September 14, 2023, 2:46 p.m
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At its factory in Zwickau, Volkswagen only produces electric vehicles. Thousands of employees have been hired for this purpose in recent years. However, some of them have to leave because not as many cars are sold as hoped.
Volkswagen is cutting many jobs at its electric car factory in Zwickau. The company announced that 269 fixed-term contracts that are about to expire after a twelve-month period will not be renewed. Shift work will probably also have to be adjusted. The specific procedure will be coordinated with the employee representatives in the next few days. A works meeting was called for the plant.
The reason given was “the current market situation”. However, Volkswagen remains 100 percent convinced of the path to electromobility, emphasized a company spokesman; The Zwickau location plays a central role in this. In view of high inflation and declining subsidy premiums, buyers are holding back on electric cars. In addition, competition from Tesla and a growing number of Chinese providers is increasing.
In recent years, VW has invested 1.2 billion euros in Zwickau and hired 3,000 new employees, most of them on a temporary basis. Around 10,700 people currently work at the plant, where six electric models from the Volkswagen, Audi and Cupra brands roll off the assembly line. Only electric cars are built there.
It is feared that other employees with fixed-term contracts could now meet a similar fate and have to vacate their jobs. A spokesman said the company had given 540 employees on fixed-term contracts the commitment to take them on permanently.