New Cost-Cutting Plans at VW? - Major Concerns Over the Zwickau Plant

Union and Works Council Speak of Great Uncertainty

The IG Metall union and the chair of the Group Works Council, Daniela Cavallo, lamented a high level of uncertainty among the workforce. “Attacks on the VW Act, co-determination, and our locations are irresponsible threats,” they said in a joint statement. 

“Should such plans be pushed forward, we would do everything in our power to prevent them.” Instead of engaging in blind activism, the Executive Board must finally focus on its actual work: competitive products, technologies, corporate structures, and synergies—and thereby secure employment.

Cost-cutting measures are already leading to job cuts at sites in Saxony

Volkswagen is struggling with enormous overcapacity. As a result, approximately 35,000 jobs at the core brand will be cut nationwide by 2030 in a socially responsible manner. Furthermore, plant closures are ruled out until then. This was agreed upon in a collective bargaining agreement at the end of 2024. 

The cutbacks are already affecting Saxony. Car production has been halted at the Gläserne Manufaktur in Dresden, and the car plant in Zwickau—once a flagship site for electric mobility—is operating at reduced capacity. Production there now runs in only two shifts instead of three, and models are to be transferred to other locations. As a result, according to earlier reports, the number of employees has fallen by about 1,200 to roughly 8,000. This, in turn, is also affecting suppliers, who are likewise cutting jobs.

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