VW to cut up to 4,000 jobs as part of digital transition

Volkswagen brand said it will cut up to 4,000 general and administrative jobs in Germany — fewer than previously indicated — while adding at least 2,000 IT positions over the next four years and extending a job guarantee until 2029.

“We are making the company fit for the digital age in a sustainable way,” VW brand Chief Operating Officer Ralf Brandstaetter said in a statement. VW said in March it was looking to trim as many as 7,000 jobs by 2023, Automotive News reads.

VW will invest up to 4 billion euros over the years to 2023 to digitalize its administration and production, the German automaker said.

Plans to achieve an annual profit gain of 5.9 billion euros ($6.7 billion) starting in 2023 and deepen cutbacks irked VW’s union leaders as automakers wrestle with the transformation of sprawling industrial operations. Software solutions are shaking up the industry’s traditional business model and electric cars require fewer parts and workers for assembly.

The VW brand, which accounts for about half the group’s global deliveries, employs about 185,000 workers out of a total workforce of 663,000. VW has been pushing to rein in bloated expenses to lift profitability that’s trailing rivals like PSA Group.