German luxury carmaker BMW will offer voluntary redundancy to nearly half of its permanent workforce in Germany as part of plans to reduce about 8,000 jobs by the end of 2027.
According to a company source, around 40,000 of BMW’s 85,000 permanent employees in Germany will receive voluntary redundancy offers from October. The programme will focus on desk-based staff, while production line workers will not be affected.
The source said the workforce is expected to shrink by about 8,000 employees by the end of 2027.
BMW employs about 154,000 people globally. The voluntary redundancy programme follows about six weeks of negotiations between the company’s board and its works council.
The automaker is facing growing pressure from lower profit margins on electric vehicles, United States tariffs and intense competition from Chinese manufacturers.
Other German carmakers are also cutting costs. Volkswagen is considering up to 100,000 job cuts across its 10 brands, while Mercedes-Benz has introduced its own voluntary redundancy programme.
BMW has largely been viewed as more resilient than many of its competitors after choosing to continue offering petrol and diesel vehicles alongside electric models. The strategy helped the company avoid costly shifts while increasing its electric vehicle sales.
However, the company issued a profit warning last month, citing weaker-than-expected business conditions in China due to fierce competition and a slowing economy.
BMW’s vehicle deliveries in China reached their lowest level since 2017 last year. Sales in the country also declined by 30 percent year-on-year during the three months to June, highlighting the challenges facing the automaker in one of its biggest markets.
