Wilfried Porth, the group’s chief human resources officer, told dpa news agency that the previously announced 10,000 staff reduction will not be enough, but not even a 15,000 reduction. “The final number will definitely be higher than these,” he said, without specifying.
He added, however, that he was not experiencing sufficient co-operation from the works council to avoid having to resort to redundancies beyond natural fluctuations.
Michael Brecht, chairman of the group’s works council, said management should see clearly that the transformation can only succeed with employees, not against them. CEO Ola Källenius has already indicated at last week’s general meeting that there is a need to push further within the framework of the savings program drawn up last autumn.
An additional € 1.4 billion in savings is needed in employment and other areas, he said. However, in an interview with the news agency, the director of personnel called the “starting amount” € 1.4 billion, noting that it will eventually be much higher. "We are facing three problems at once," he said: "one is the coronavirus epidemic that is causing the economic crisis, the other is the compulsion to switch to electromobility, and the third is general competitiveness. but to make greater use of existing ones. "
Daimler based its downsizing plans on natural fluctuations, retirement and collective bargaining, and intended to apply them primarily in the areas of management and administration. However, according to Porth, certain production activities may now fall into the spread, especially where the group has excess capacity. There was also talk of outsourcing IT services, which could affect about 2,000 jobs.
The restructuring program, planned for the end of the decade, was agreed between the group and the works council in return for a promise to avoid layoffs. However, the Zukunftssicherung 2030 agreement also provides for the possibility of derogating from it “in the event of a significant change in the economic framework conditions”.
(Source: vezess.hu / photo: pixabay.com)