As of: March 1, 2024, 3:46 p.m
By: Markus Hofstetter
Comments
Press
Split
VW is not calming down.
VW brand boss Schäfer is said to have ruthlessly disclosed grievances in an internal briefing.
The employees are unsettled.
Wolfsburg - According to a report by
Business Insider,
VW brand boss Thomas Schäfer settled accounts with his own group in an internal briefing.
In the live format called “Let's talk,” in which the participating employees could also ask questions, he mercilessly revealed everything that was going wrong.
“VW is in a precarious situation,” said Schäfer, summing up the current state of the brand.
VW boss settles accounts with his own group: bleak picture of the global economic situation
According to the online portal, Schäfer made it clear that VW is facing by far the most difficult phase in the company's recent history.
He is said to have said that the car manufacturer “cannot waste any time” with regard to the “performance program”.
The all-clear cannot be given, on the contrary.
The “Performance Program”, which was presented at the end of 2023, is intended to reduce costs by ten billion euros by 2026 through savings in material, development and manufacturing costs, but also in personnel.
VW brand boss Thomas Schäfer also laid the finger on many wounds in a confidential event © Julian Stratenschulte/dpa
Part of Schäfer's lecture was dedicated to the general conditions with which VW is struggling.
The brand boss painted a bleak picture of the global economic situation, which is causing people to be less willing to spend money.
He also referred to new competitors, especially from China, who export to Europe.
“There is competition here that we have to endure.”
VW boss settles accounts with his own group: Crazy events in China and at Tesla
He is also concerned about the fall in the price of electric cars.
“There are crazy things going on in China and at Tesla,” said Schäfer, referring to the US carmaker’s repeated price cuts.
“If we don’t do anything, it will become increasingly difficult to present our successes.”
As
Manager Magazin
reports, VW's operating margin fell from 4.7 to 3.4 percent in the first nine months of 2023, also because the manufacturing costs are so high.
Schäfer takes a correspondingly harsh approach to this problem.
The factories would take too long and the cars would be too expensive to produce.
“Production programs were changed at the last minute,” criticizes Schäfer.
In addition, you have to sell the quantities and enforce the prices.
Otherwise you would later have to work against the decay and “save things away”, which is “much more difficult”.
The number of expensive overtime hours is to be halved at VW
Another construction site for Schäfer is the socially acceptable reduction in personnel.
Already in October, the
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
reported that 20 percent of jobs in the so-called indirect sector, in which 20,000 people are employed, were to be cut.
Employees in the areas of administration, sales, development and production preparation should be explicitly affected.
My news
Traffic light plans for pensions are presented: Read what we know about Pension Package II
Over 600 euros more: Read criticism of record diet increase for MPs
“Overreaching”: President of the Social Court is tough on the court reading with citizens’ money
Auto supplier from southern Germany is insolvent: 5,000 jobs at risk
Traditional company has to close and lays off all employees
1 hour ago
Taxpayers fork out 23.3 million euros per month for citizen's money rents
Apparently, many of the participants' questions about this topic in particular came via the meeting's chat function.
Employees also asked about the future of the trainees.
Does VW want to save money here too?
This showed that if fewer people work at Volkswagen, the number of trainees also drops.
Another question came about the termination agreements that VW wants to offer.
Schäfer said the company “probably won’t be able to avoid severance payments.”
But he only wants to use this instrument specifically.
There will be no “watering can” because of the high costs.
Schäfer wants to halve the number of overtime hours at VW.
“We have an unbelievable number of hours of extra work,” on which we spend “millions and millions” of euros.
You have to get that under control.
When project work is based on a deadline, overtime is often unavoidable.
Otherwise, the motto applies: “Please do the extra work in doses.”
VW boss settles accounts with his own group: Flexibility is required from employees
Schäfer responded harshly to the intensification of work that many employees apparently feared.
When asked whether a VW administrative employee from Wolfsburg would have to take a similar job at the VW plant in Emden if his position at the headquarters was eliminated, Schäfer replied irritably: “Yes, is that bad?
I don’t think so!” He expects exactly this willingness to move.
This is the flexibility that he demands from all his employees - and from himself too.
Schäfer's billing list also includes the complexity in many VW departments.
For him, there are too many committees and decision-making levels.
He and his team would work on that - and probably also want to cut some.
VW boss settles accounts with his own company: Lots of explosive and worrying messages
In order to save costs, the brand boss also advocates “consistently outsourcing repetitive activities that are not core business”.
To this end, certain activities should be relocated to “best cost countries”.
As an example, he cited a possible relocation of invoicing from Germany to Poland.
The confidential event appears to have reassured employees, according to
Business Insider
's conversations with participants.
Accordingly, a manager said with concern: “I often couldn’t believe my ears, many of Schäfer’s messages were so explosive and worrying.”
In July last year, Schäfer spoke of a “fire in the roof” in an incendiary speech.
Costs have to be saved.