Bosch wants to cut around 1,200 jobs in its embedded electronic systems division, in a context of delicate transition to electric mobility for this key sector of German industry (AFP/Archives/JENS SCHLUETER)
The world’s leading automotive supplier Bosch wants to cut around 1,200 jobs in its embedded electronic systems division, in a context of delicate transition to electric mobility for this key sector of German industry.
These job cuts, which are expected to last until 2026 and 950 of which concern sites in Germany, target a division of software integrated into vehicles, essential for the construction of more autonomous vehicles, the German group told AFP on Thursday.
The plan will affect the areas of development, sales and administration and must be discussed with personnel representatives, Bosch explained.
In December, the Stuttgart group had already announced plans to cut up to 1,500 jobs at two German transmission manufacturing sites.
“The weak economy and high inflation, caused by energy and raw material costs, are currently slowing down the (technological) transition and at the same time increasing necessary spending,” Bosch said.
The division is “facing much greater challenges than expected”, added the group, arguing the difficulty in maintaining a “difficult balance between investment and cost discipline”.
The transition to electromobility generally requires high initial investments and is accompanied by a reduction in employment needs.
Equipment manufacturers have thus multiplied social plans since 2023, against a backdrop of weak momentum in car sales, heavy investments and increasingly fierce international competition.
On Wednesday, some 3,000 employees of the equipment manufacturer ZF demonstrated in front of the head office in Friedrichshafen (south) against the risk of a social plan targeting 12,000 jobs, according to the daily Handelsblatt which cites the group’s works council.
ZF plans in particular to close its shock absorber factory in Eitorf, near Cologne, as well as the one producing steering systems in Gelsenkirchen, in the Ruhr.
The current policy of forced electrification of the automobile could destroy up to half a million jobs by 2040 in the EU among equipment manufacturers, according to a study published in early December by the European Association of automotive suppliers (CLEPA).
© 2024 AFP
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