{
  "id": 15748660,
  "title": "Automaker: Severance program closed: Thousands want to leave BMW – not everyone is allowed to",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/20/autohersteller-abfindungsprogramm-geschlossen-tausende-wollen-bmw",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-10-20T13:48:25.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Handelsblatt",
    "slug": "handelsblatt",
    "url": "https://www.handelsblatt.com/unternehmen/industrie/bmw-tausende-wollen-bmw-verlassen-abfindungsprogramm-geschlossen/100263648.html"
  },
  "original_language": "de",
  "account": "Munich - BMW has terminated its severance program less than two weeks after its launch. Over thousands of employees have expressed their willingness to leave the company since October 8th. This has allowed the conglomerate to achieve its goal. No further applications are being accepted. BMW confirmed on Tuesday that it had reached its target \"early.\" The exact number was not disclosed, but the company aimed to finalize the program by the middle of the following month. This does not mean that all interested employees will leave the company before that date. Instead, they will know whether they can sign a waiver agreement by then. The program operates on the principle of double voluntariness: the employee must wish to leave, and the employer must agree. The offers were received by tens of thousands of BMW employees. However, only a few were able to accept the offers initially because the portal crashed shortly after the launch on October 8th due to the overwhelming number of employees wanting to know what their departure would be worth. The Handelsblatt newspaper reported on the incident.",
  "summary": "The response to the car manufacturer's structural program is great. So great that it will now be terminated prematurely. BMW is offering employees generous terms for their departure.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Handelsblatt",
        "title": "Automotive industry: Severance program closed: Thousands want to leave BMW – not everyone is allowed to",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/20/autoindustrie-abfindungsprogramm-geschlossen-tausende-wollen-bmw",
        "published": "2026-10-20T14:54:24.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}