Oliver Blume. Photo by DPA
Blume and Volkswagen brand chief Thomas Schäfer are presenting a restructuring plan at the company’s plant in Wolfsburg. Similar meetings between management and employees are scheduled to take place in the coming days at other German plants belonging to the group, according to Business Standard.
Why Volkswagen Is Cutting Staff
Blume’s plans call for significant cost cuts and a restructuring of Volkswagen amid intensifying competition from Chinese automakers, profitability issues, and the automotive industry’s shift toward electric vehicles and software.
In July 2026, Blume informed employees that the company might need to make approximately 50,000 additional layoffs on top of the measures already agreed upon. Thus, the potential scale of the workforce reduction could reach approximately 100,000 jobs.
However, this does not mean that 100,000 employees will be laid off all at once. Some of the cuts had already been agreed upon by Volkswagen and the labor unions as part of the 2024 agreement. Therefore, the additional measures are intended to increase the previously established scope of workforce reductions.
At the same time, the company is considering further reducing production capacity in Europe by approximately 500,000 vehicles per year, cutting the number of models, and optimizing its management structure.
Unions Oppose New Layoffs
The additional cuts have already sparked serious discontent among workers and unions. Employee representatives believe that employees should not bear the brunt of Volkswagen’s mistakes in the areas of software, electric vehicles, and operations in the Chinese market.
The IG Metall union opposes further large-scale job cuts. Union representatives have also warned of possible strikes if management does not revise its plans.
For Blume, the situation is particularly challenging due to Volkswagen’s corporate governance structure. Management must take into account the position of the unions and the state of Lower Saxony, which is one of the company’s largest shareholders and wields significant influence over the group’s decisions.
