Volkswagen Workers Strike in Germany Over Automaker’s Cost-Cutting Plans

Volkswagen AG workers across Germany began striking Monday over the automaker’s plans to cut costs.

The German company is planning to slash jobs and pay and close factories, as it struggles with Chinese competition, high costs, and sluggish demand for electric vehicles (EVs). 

According to Bloomberg, the workers have launched temporary walkouts at all except one of the company’s German plants, as they push back against Volkswagen’s plans to close up to three factories in the country and lay off thousands of workers.

Volkswagen has roughly 300,000 employees and operates 10 plants in Germany, according to The Wall Street Journal, which noted that plant closures would be the automaker’s first in the country.

Volkswagen said it is using its “internal communication channels” to communicate with its staff and has taken “targeted measures in advance” to keep the disruption to its customers and factories to a minimum. 

“Volkswagen respects the right of employees to participate in a warning strike,” a spokesperson at the German company said in response to a request for comment from Investopedia. “The company continues to rely on constructive dialogue with co-determination in order to achieve a sustainable and jointly supported solution.”

Labor union IG Metall didn’t immediately return an Investopedia request for comment.

UPDATE—Dec. 2, 2024: This article has been updated to include comments from Volkswagen.