Volkswagen to cut 30,000 jobs worldwide

Volkswagen has officially announced its intentions of cutting 30,000 jobs worldwide by the year 2020. The most affected region will be the automaker's home country - Germany, which will alone be losing around 23,000 jobs. This decision is a part of the automaker's plans to minimize expenses in order to cope with the financial setback borne due to the infamous dieselgate emission scandal. Through the said cuts, Volkswagen is aiming to achieve savings of $3.92 billion by the year 2020.

The company claims that there won't be any lay-offs. A large portion of the job cuts will be fulfilled by early retirement. Moreover, the automaker is creating 9,000 new jobs by investing in new technologies. As a result, some of the employees from VW will be moved to fill these roles.

The dieselgate scandal broke out last year, when the company was found guilty of using defeat devices to bypass emission tests. Around 11 million cars are said to be affected. Volkswagen has been asked to recall all affected models in major markets to fix the emissions so that its cars are truly compliant with the country-specific emission norms. Volkswagen recently agreed upon a settlement in the United States, which has set the company back by $14.7 billion.

In order to cope with this huge financial setback, the automaker has been on a cost-cutting spree in the past few months. In line with these efforts, Volkswagen has pulled out of the WRC championship, while Audi has ended its run in the World Endurance Championship.

Source: BBC