STUTTGART, GERMANY - Mercedes parent company Daimler announced on Friday that it intends to cut 10 000 jobs as part of its plans to save 1.4 billion euros (R22.6bn).
The Stuttgart-based carmaker plans to reduce its workforce mainly by leaving upcoming vacancies in its administrative department unfilled, expanding its semi-retirement scheme and offering redundancy packages.
The "slimming down of the company," as Daimler referred to the cuts in a statement, was negotiated between the management and general works council.
While many details remain unclear, it has been agreed that forced redundancies will remain off the table until the end of 2029.
The announcement comes after Daimler Chairman Ola Kallenius referred to belt-tightening plans in comments to investors earlier this month in London.
It was Wilfried Porth, management board member for human resources, who had to map out on Friday exactly what the 1.4-billion-euro savings goal would mean in terms of jobs.
"With the key points for streamlining the company now agreed with the works council, we can achieve this goal by the end of 2022," Porth said, promising to proceed with as much social responsibility as possible.
Daimler is struggling to scrape together investments as the global auto industry faces pressure to transition towards more environmentally friendly e-cars and away from diesel.
Daimler's announcement came just days after a similar one from its German peer Audi.
Audi said on Tuesday that the works council and the company had agreed to cut up to 9 500 jobs between now and 2025, although it would create up to 2000 new expert positions in areas such as electric mobility and digitalization.