The rapid transition to electromobility causes a large number of layoffs due to job cuts, and the biggest consequences will be for small and medium-sized companies. There is a risk that a more qualified employee will look for a job in a larger and more stable company, and that small or medium-sized companies will be left without a workforce. Also, analyzes show that by 2030, 25 percent of workers in the German auto industry will lose their jobs.

After 2018 and 2019, there was a decline in the number of employees in all branches of the auto industry. In 2019, German manufacturers produced 4.7 million cars, and in 2023, 4.1 million. This resulted in the loss of 6.6 percent of jobs. Of course, the pre-pandemic year was not the beginning of the workforce reduction. It all started in 2016, since when around 30,000 employees were laid off.

Now, more electric vehicle component manufacturers are seriously considering job cuts by the end of the decade. According to the latest information, this number will be the highest at suppliers such as Continental, Bosch and ZF Friedrichshafen (-70,000).

“The number of employees in Germany is likely to fall due to the shift to e-mobility. Even if new jobs are created in areas such as battery development or production, they will not be able to compensate for the loss of other jobs,” said the automotive analyst Frank Schwope in an interview with Automobilwoche.

Manuel Kallweit, Chief Economist at the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) believes that workers in the production of parts will be offered a transfer to the production of batteries. “It shows that companies want to keep jobs, and workers will not be unemployed to the extent that jobs are cut. There is still a shortage of skilled workers, which will not decrease in the coming years,” Kallweit said.

Source: Automobilwoche