Ahead of a series of works meetings, Volkswagen employees have accused the carmaker's group board of "disastrous communication to the outside world". As a result of this approach, staff and their families are "unsettled and frightened", according to a text from the General Works Council published on the company intranet, which has been seen by the news agency AFP. The accusation stems from an online survey in which employees were able, among other things, to submit their questions to the group board.
In July, media outlets reported for days on possible job cuts. Group CEO Oliver Blume subsequently commented in an interview published on the company's intranet, speaking of around 50,000 positions to be cut worldwide in order to bring overhead costs to a "competitive level".
In a further internal interview from last week, the group CEO said that a reduction of around 50,000 jobs worldwide by 2030 was "not a fixed target figure". The number, he said, is calculated "from our cost target compared with the competition and gives an indication of how great our need for action is".
The plants in Emden, Hanover, Zwickau and Neckarsulm are also hanging in the balance. In the most recent intranet interview, Blume repeated that at the plants named, "we cannot today present competitive capacity utilisation for the 2030s". A concrete decision on plant closures has not yet been taken, he went on.
This week, a series of extraordinary works meetings is taking place. Blume intends to attend in person on Tuesday in Wolfsburg and on Wednesday in Emden and Zwickau.
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