The Audi leadership was unable to agree with the works council on a future package before the Supervisory Board meeting last Wednesday as planned. The talks were loud and fruitless. According to SPIEGEL information there is disagreement over which and how many jobs the automaker should actually reduce.
The works council initially wants to define activities that will no longer be needed in the future. With a "target image" for the year 2025, the company management is to show precisely which vehicles and services Audi wants to offer in the next five years - and which workers are needed for this. The threat of dismantling should then be cushioned by retraining and further education.
The Audi management, however, wants to quickly start with job cuts on the basis of a "reduction curve". The annual production capacity at the plants in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm is to be reduced by 100,000 vehicles each, and the number of employees will decrease accordingly. We are talking about 4,000 to 5,000 jobs that Audi wants to reduce via partial retirement and early retirement schemes. No employees should be dismissed, vacancies should no longer be filled.
Job guarantee until 2029 under conditions
There is also a dispute over the duration of the job guarantee, which is valid until 2025. The employee representatives demand an extension until at least 2030, which Audi rejects so far. However, the company is pushing for a quick agreement - and is still optimistic: An agreement can be expected in the coming week, it says from Audi circles.
An employment guarantee until 2029 could be agreed, provided the works council in turn accepts the reduction of production capacity in the plants. As a further concession, Audi wants to guarantee that it will continue to offer apprenticeships on a larger scale.
The premium manufacturer is facing a major change. In recent weeks, it has been announced that Audi will be replacing its CEO and several board members. From the beginning of April 2020, the new boss Markus Duesmann should fundamentally reform the company. The engine expert comes from BMW, where his departure is greatly regretted. His goal is to return to the Audi brand its claim of "Vorsprung durch Technik".
