Mercedes’s parent company, Daimler, made €7.6 billion (or about $8.4 billion) in profit last year. But as we’re all in the midst of an electric car revolution, Daimler has apparently decided that some heads must roll, and it’s cutting at least 10,000 jobs to facilitate the switch.
And the number will likely go higher than 10,000, the Guardian reports:
Daimler has announced plans to cut at least 10,000 jobs worldwide in the latest sign of stress in the German automotive industry as it invests billions in electric cars.
Daimler, which owns Mercedes-Benz and also makes lorries, vans and buses, said on Friday it planned to cut thousands of jobs by the end of 2022, but later made it clear the toll would be higher.
“The total number worldwide will be in the five-digits,” the personnel chief, Wilfried Porth, told journalists. The company will cut one in 10 of its managers worldwide.
Many of the job losses will simply come from not replacing people who leave, and others will be offered early retirement, the report said. The cuts have also been agreed upon by the company’s works council which represents the company’s worker unions.
Still, it kinda sucks! I mean, any job losses are of course bad, but especially so right before Christmas, for many workers.
The electric omelette will be made, one way or another, and while engineering jobs for internal combustion motors and whatnot will probably fall by the wayside eventually, big manufacturers have decided a lot more eggs have to be cracked first. Mercedes is just the latest in a long line here, including Audi and Jaguar.