Job Cuts at VW: Zwickau ID.3 Plant Under Pressure

According to a media report, Volkswagen is set to cut up to 100,000 jobs worldwide over the coming years – twice as many as previously planned. Particularly explosive for Saxony: according to the report by "Manager Magazin," the plant in Zwickau, Saxony, is also facing closure. The Hannover and Emden sites are also named, as well as the Audi site in Neckarsulm. The magazine did not give a specific date – the plants could be closed "in the medium term." At least until 2030, however, an employment guarantee agreed with the IG Metall trade union applies at the group's German sites. The cutting of 50,000 jobs group-wide by 2030 has already been announced, 35,000 of them at the core VW brand. The group itself initially declined to comment in detail, pointing out that the underlying matters would be discussed and decided in the relevant committees. It was only confirmed that the management board has been working for months on a plan for the future in order to make the group more efficient and leaner. Resistance is coming from the political sphere: Saxony's Minister President Michael Kretschmer warned that a withdrawal by Volkswagen would be "fatal for our entire state." Economics Minister Dirk Panter announced that he intends to fight for the plant in Zwickau and the jobs there. The ACOD network of the East German automotive industry also warned against a closure: a decision against the site would, according to ACOD chief Jens Katzek, be "insane" – anyone who wants to shape the future needs good, productive plants and a workforce that plays along. That is what Zwickau offers.