Volkswagen Board Members addressed tensions rising between management and employees today amid reports of extensive cost cutting in the wake of the emissions scandal. The comments came today as VW Board Members gave employees an update on a pact between labor and management to set a turnaround plan for the embattled company.
“The pact for the future will lay the foundation for a significant boost in the competitiveness of the brand,” said Herbert Diess, Chairman of the Board of Management. “We will need to reduce our workforce, but there will be no redundancies. At the same time, we will be offering a perspective for the future of each plant.”
Fears are being stoked, especially in Germany, that though Volkswagen and its sub-brands—Audi in particular—won’t be laying anyone off, more investments in VW’s future will be made outside of Germany than in.
Automotive News reports that the Volkswagen brand alone is targeting another 3.7 billion euros (roughly $4 billion) in savings, on top of the 5 billion euro efficiency program announced in 2014.
Volkswagen brass was quick to step in to allay those fears.
“We will be slowing down the expansion of conventional technologies,” says Diess. The company will “instead [be] investing in future technologies such as E-mobility, digital networking and new mobility services.”
Diess was joined by General Works Council Chairman, Bernd Osterloh, who said that “if it is a matter of steering Volkswagen to a future which will safeguard our jobs in the long term, we can talk about it.”
Osterloh went on to say: “We are sure that our workforce is prepared to master this difficult situation together as it has so often shown in the history of our company. However, this will only apply with a clear perspective for the future of plants, new products and jobs which are secure in the long term.”
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