Keeping in time with its phat, cost-cutting beats, Volkswagen announced it will reduce its German workforce, eliminating "several thousand" unneeded employees, from both management and labor, mainly through attrition, early-leave incentives and part-time demotions. The company didn't give a timeline for the cuts, though its current labor agreement prohibits firing any of its 103,000 workers in Germany before 2011. Automotive News is reporting the cuts will occur throughout the company's European plants — numbering 14,000 jobs, including 10,000 in Germany — and will be completed by the end of 2008, according to Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper.
Volkswagen to cut 14,000 jobs in Europe, report says [Automotive News]
VW to cut jobs among 'several thousand' surplus German employees [The Detroit News]
Related:
Costs Face Slashings As VW Forwards Plan to Reverse Misfortunes; VW Body Picks Portugal Plant to Produce Compact SUV [internal]