Merz warns of more industrial job losses amid Volkswagen crisis
dpaHanoverChancellor Friedrich Merz has warned of further losses of industrial jobs in Germany amid the crisis at Volkswagen. Volkswagen was emblematic of the difficult situation...
Chancellor Friedrich Merz has expressed concern over additional industrial job losses in Germany due to the Volkswagen crisis. Speaking at a campaign event near Hanover, Merz stated that Germany is experiencing large-scale industrial job cuts. He emphasized the need to halt this trend and stressed the importance of Germany remaining an industrial nation.
Volkswagen, a major German carmaker, is seeking to become more efficient and competitive amid fierce competition from China. The company plans to cut 50,000 positions by 2030. However, an earlier agreement to reduce approximately 50,000 jobs has been expanded to around 100,000 by the end of the decade.
Chancellor Merz welcomed the recent agreement within the Volkswagen supervisory board, which would have been detrimental if it had been an open dispute over leadership. However, he clarified that the agreement was only provisional at the moment.
Merz highlighted the significance of Volkswagen to Lower Saxony, noting that no state is as strongly influenced by a single large industrial company as Lower Saxony. He pointed out that Volkswagen's fate differs from that of an ordinary private-sector company as it supports numerous jobs at suppliers and businesses. The supervisory board of Volkswagen has approved a comprehensive restructuring involving the elimination of tens of thousands of jobs and a reduction in the model range. The future of four German plants remains uncertain for now.
Written by urgent.news from Qatar Tribune Business's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
