Volkswagen to cut costs, lay off up to 5,000 employees in Germany

Carmaker Volkswagen plans to cut up to 5,000 jobs at its plants in Germany by offering early or partial retirement to older employees, according to the Handelsblatt newspaper, Report informs referring to Reuters.

Volkswagen said in a statement it had agreed a plan with the works council to open partial retirement to those born in 1964, while offering early retirement to those born from 1956 to 1960.

Volkswagen said it expected up to 900 workers to opt for early retirement, while a low number in the thousands would choose partial retirement, without giving a precise figure.

Volkswagen said it was also extending a hiring freeze until the end of 2021. It had previously only been in place until the first quarter. External hires can only be made in areas like electric cars, digitalization and battery cell development.

The Volkswagen Group said in January it would cut overhead costs by 5 percent and procurement costs by 7 percent over the next two years.