Bosch plans to shed between 8,000 and 10,000 jobs in Germany, its supervisory board’s deputy chairman has indicated.
The automotive supplier, which has recently revealed numerous plans to cut its workforce, is making more cost reductions as it grapples to stay competitive in the international market.
Frank Sell, who is also chairman of Bosch’s key Mobility Solutions division’s works council, made the comments earlier this week.
According to reports, he said the atmosphere that had been created at the company because of the plans was “absolutely unbearable”.
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Unions and labour representatives will now create an action plan for next year, Sell said.
Just three weeks ago, Bosch announced it would be slashing 5,000 jobs, with 3,800 layoffs to be made in Germany.
At the time, a spokesperson said that the exact number of redundancies would be discussed and agreed with employee representatives.
In another statement, the company indicated it was having to invest heavily in new technology, adapting to “the changing market environment”.
The firm also noted stagnation in the market, and said it would be axing as many as 1,300 roles between 2027 and 2030 at its Germany-based division making vehicle steering systems.
In December 2023, the business had already revealed plans to cut 1,500 jobs.
The company is not the first in the country’s automotive sector to make redundancies.
This month, Volkswagen employees in Germany are set to strike over the firm’s plans to curb pay and make thousands of jobs redundant as demand for cars in Europe plunges, while costs in the country make it tough to compete with international rivals.
Ford also intends to cut 4,000 jobs in Europe, including 800 in the UK, following a slump in electric vehicle sales.
A Bosch spokesperson told Personnel Today: “The mobility sector is undergoing a profound transformation. Global vehicle production is expected to stagnate this year at around 93 million units, if not even go slightly down on the previous year.
“Bosch expects only a slight recovery next year. The automotive industry is suffering from significant excess capacity and the competitive and price pressure have intensified. The difficult economic environment and the ongoing transformation in the automotive industry are presenting us – like other companies – with major challenges.
“It is important for us to remain competitive under these conditions. At the same time, we have to make high upfront investments and position ourselves for the future. Even if it remains our aim to preserve jobs as far as possible with new products and a wide range of reskilling programs, these conditions mean that we are not able to avoid cutting jobs in certain units. We want any necessary personnel adjustments to be as socially acceptable as possible.
“In the Mobility business sector, we remain committed to the works agreement concluded in summer 2023 and to the assurance that there will be no redundancies at our German Mobility locations until the end of 2027.”
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