Daimler stated on Friday it will slash at least 10,000 jobs globally during the next three years, after others in the industry as they cut expenses to spend in electric vehicles while grappling with decreasing sales.
It marks the third announcement on expenses cuts this week by a significant German auto company as automakers look forward to fund huge investments into cleaner and self-driving technologies while demand in China, their biggest market, is dropping and a trade war between Washington and Beijing is causing a decline in economic growth.
“The automotive industry is in the middle of the biggest transformation in its history,” Daimler stated.
Daimler, the owner of Mercedes-Benz, announced the 3% cut in its workforce after reaching an agreement on its strategies with labor unions.
They have agreed on a range of measures to cut expenses and jobs, including expanding part-time retirement and a severance program to be provided in Germany. The company is also cutting 10% of global management positions.
Staff decreases would be in the low five-digits, or no less than 10,000 people, according to Wilfried Porth, a board member in charge of human resources. The company has hired 304,680 staff at the end of the third quarter.
Plans showed by Daimler in November revealed the company intended to cut staff expenses by around 1.4 billion euros ($1.54 billion) by the end of 2022.
The declaration comes days after Volkswagen’s unit Audi stated it would cut up to 9,500 jobs or one in ten staff by 2025, freeing up billions of euros to fund its transition toward electric vehicle production.
