Daimler Truck to cut 5,000 jobs in Germany by 2030

Truck manufacturer Daimler Truck plans to eliminate thousands of jobs in Germany in the coming years. In a strategic plan for the coming years published on Tuesday, the company announced the elimination of around 5,000 jobs in Germany by 2030. The General Works Council expressed surprise and contradicted the statement that the number was based on a corresponding agreement with management.

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In a statement, Daimler Truck spoke of a "comprehensive and detailed restructuring plan" covering six "cost-cutting areas." "It includes a relocation of production volumes to a country with cost advantages and other measures that will result in significant job cuts in Germany by 2030." The job cuts are to be achieved through "natural attrition," partial retirement arrangements, and "targeted severance packages."

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The General Works Council confirmed that an agreement on cost savings had been reached. However, within this framework, "no specific number of jobs to be cut was discussed," explained General Works Council Chairman Michael Brecht. "The number the company has now communicated is obviously due to capital market communications." This was "annoying" and unsettling for employees.

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Daimler Truck aims to achieve total savings of one billion euros in Europe. Chief Financial Officer Eva Scherer had already indicated in May that the cost-cutting program would be more extensive than initially announced. It would not be a "minimally invasive intervention," she told the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung," citing job cuts and relocation of production as the upcoming measures.

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"In the past, jobs have often been cut even though it wasn't economically viable – and we want to prevent that this time," Brecht explained. It has now been agreed that a comprehensive review will first be conducted to determine which activities could be relocated to other locations or outsourced to external companies. "Only once the economic viability review has been carried out department by department can we even determine whether and how many jobs will be eliminated or relocated."