Volkswagen will scrap 3,000 jobs by June

The number may be even higher if the carmaker fails to win a new model.

Volkswagen SlovakiaVolkswagen Slovakia (Source: Courtesy of Volkswagen Slovakia)

Bratislava-based carmaker Volkswagen Slovakia has published its plan to reduce the number of its staff. It is expected to cut nearly 3,000 jobs by June. Moreover, as a result of fewer shifts, employees will lose several surcharges and will thus receive lower salaries, the Trend weekly reported.

SkryťTurn off ads
Article continues after video advertisement
SkryťTurn off ads
Article continues after video advertisement

The reason for such cuts is the insecure future of the Bratislava-based plant which needs access to mass investments and to increase its productivity by 30 percent. The problem is that the carmaker has not been assigned any of the new models that would be produced after 2022, according to the weekly.

SkryťTurn off ads

The numbers are not final, and can change based on fluctuation, the demand of foreign plants belonging to Volkswagen, and the social status of individual employees.

Help to find a new job

Read also: Volkswagen Bratislava restricts production due to the strike in Hungary Read more 

The production of the Volkswagen and Audi SUV models will change from four shifts to three from mid-March. Moreover, there will be no weekend shifts, which means that the vehicles will be manufactured only during the working week in the mornings, afternoons and evenings.

In addition, from mid-June, the new Small Family vehicles group will be manufactured during only one shift, instead of the current two. The Porsche segment will not undergo any changes until the corporate vacation, Trend wrote.

As for the employees, about 400 of the above mentioned 3,000 will be from the Hungarian plant Audi Hungaria, who came to Bratislava to help out in November 2016. Another 600 jobs should be scrapped as part of the natural fluctuation, with the carmaker explaining that about 100 people leave the plant every month. The company also plans not to extend the agreements with 600 workers recruited via employment agencies.

SkryťTurn off ads

About 500 employees are expected to be assigned as temporary help in the neighbouring Volkswagen plants. Some 400 people are expected to be sent to Audi Hungaria, which is currently preparing the launch of new car model Audi Q4. The remaining 100 staff will go to other plants abroad, Trend reported.

Read also: Which companies in Slovakia does Brexit put in jeopardy? Read more 

Volkswagen Slovakia also plans not to extend any agreements with a fixed employment period. Currently, there are 1,600 such employees working for the plant, but the decision will affect only about half of them. The carmaker wants to keep the staff who started working for it based on the recommendation from other employees, via the internal referral programme. The company has hired about 700 people in this way.

Volkswagen Slovakia plans to help the dismissed staff find a job at other companies. This is why they are creating an internal job fair where job offers from other companies will be published. According to Trend, Nitra-based Jaguar Land Rover has already shown interest in people from the Bratislava-based firm.

Top stories

Two bear incidents over weekend, an effort to revive Bratislava calvary, and storks in Trnava.


Píšem or pišám?

"Do ľava," (to the left) I yelled, "Nie, do prava" (no, to the right), I gasped. "Dolšie," I screamed. "Nie, nie, horšie..." My Slovak girlfriend collapsed in laughter. Was it something I said?


Matthew J. Reynolds
Czech biochemist Jan Konvalinka.

Jan Konvalinka was expecting a pandemic before Covid-19 came along.


SkryťClose ad