After Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz agreed workforce reductions affecting tens of thousands of employees, BMW is now preparing a voluntary redundancy programme in Germany as weak demand and pressure on profits weigh on the carmaker.
Several thousand positions will be removed by the end of 2027, BMW announced on Wednesday (July 29).
A person familiar with the plans expects the group’s worldwide workforce, currently about 150,000, to contract by around 8,000.
A company spokesperson said the agreement with the works council was limited to administrative and development divisions, leaving production operations outside the scheme.
Chief executive Milan Nedeljković addressed employees at a workers’ assembly in Munich the same day.