 Volkswagen says it has considerable overcapacity in its workforce |
German car giant Volkswagen has announced plans to cut thousands of jobs, despite rising sales. Volkswagen had "several thousand" surplus employees, particularly at its flagship plant in Wolfsburg, chairman Bernd Pischetsrieder said.
The company did not specify how many workers would be laid off, but said it would avoid compulsory redundancies.
Investors welcomed the announcement and Volkswagen shares climbed higher on the Frankfurt stock exchange.
By early afternoon, the company was the star performer on the benchmark Dax index, with shares up by 2.2% at 43.38 euros.
Early retirement
Mr Pischetsrieder was speaking at a meeting of staff at Volkswagen's Wolfsburg plant.
He made no comment on a report in the weekly news magazine Der Spiegel, which said in its latest edition that 10,000 of the company's 103,000 jobs in Germany were at risk.
Volkswagen said it would reduce the workforce by extending an early retirement scheme and offering financial compensation to persuade others to leave.
The company has pledged to honour agreements with trade unions that protect German workers from compulsory layoffs until the end of 2011 in return for a wage freeze.
"Despite rising sales, the group still has considerable overcapacity," Volkswagen said. "These measures apply to employees in all areas, including senior managers."
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