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German car giant BMW slated to slash 6,000 jobs this year

German high-end carmaker BMW will slash 6,000 of its over 120,000 jobs worldwide this year, a spokesman told AFP Friday, as the industry battles a demand trough and production setbacks from the coronavirus pandemic.

Published: 19 June 2020 16:47 CEST
German car giant BMW slated to slash 6,000 jobs this year
A car being assembled in BMW's Leipzig plant. Photo: DPA

The 6,000 positions make up a considerable chunk of BMW's more than 120,000 worldwide, with the job cuts coming as the industry battles a demand trough and production setbacks from the coronavirus pandemic.

Meanwhile BMW and Daimler-owned Mercedes “are putting their cooperation on
development of next-generation technology for automated driving on hold,” the
Munich and Stuttgart-based firms said in a joint statement.

READ ALSO: 'Germans are not tired of cars': Numbers of vehicles on the road continues to rise

The two groups had joined forces to catch up their American and Chinese competitors, including Tesla and Google, which have a head start.

It marks the first staff reduction that the company has made since the 2008 financial crisis, reported Germany's Handelsblatt.

But talks begun last year had showed that “in view of the expense involved
in creating a shared technology platform, as well as current business and economic conditions, the timing is not right,” they said.

“Cooperation may be resumed at a later date,” the two firms added.

BMW had already announced in May that it would bulk up a cost-cutting programme to tackle the economic devastation of infection control measures introduced to fight the coronavirus.

Bosses had already planned to reduce investments, while they hoped to slash labour costs via attrition rather than the additional measures announced Friday.

Now BMW has resorted to slashing two hours a week for some workers and
granting others an extra eight days' holiday per year in exchange for lower pay.

Like Daimler and industry behemoth Volkswagen, BMW expects the pandemic to
inflict an operating loss for the second quarter.

Many of its showrooms had to be closed for weeks.

And over the full year, its pre-tax profit is expected to be “significantly lower” than 2019's €7.1 billion.

Europe's auto market collapsed by 52.3 percent year-on-year in May, although the plunge was less steep than in April.

Meanwhile 41.5 percent fewer cars were sold in the first five months than last year.

A shrinking car market, a costly transition to electric power and harsh new
EU penalties for excessive CO2 emissions were all already sapping Germany's
flagship industrial sector before pandemic lockdowns bit.

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WORKING IN GERMANY

Which Bavaria-based companies regularly hire English speakers?

Bavaria is no doubt a beautiful state with a strong economy, but can be a hard place for non-German speakers to integrate. The Local takes a look at job opportunities in Germany’s southeastern 'Free State.'

Published: 7 February 2024 10:54 CET
Updated: 10 February 2024 08:20 CET
Which Bavaria-based companies regularly hire English speakers?

Munich ranks third in German cities with the highest total GDP, behind Berlin and Hamburg, but in terms of GDP per capita, it’s higher than both of them.

It also consistently ranks high, often highest, in terms of average household income.

As of 2023, nine of the 40 companies listed on DAX, Germany’s stock index, were based in Bavaria. Seven of those are based specifically in Munich.

While Frankfurt is commonly known to be Germany’s business capital, Munich can claim the title of Germany’s insurance capital, which is saying something, as Germany is home to some of the largest insurance firms in the world, like Allianz.

Beyond the state’s capital city, a number of international companies are based elsewhere in Bavaria, particularly in the Franken region, near Nuremberg.

Which companies actively hire English speakers?

Bavaria, and Munich in particular, is home to a number of companies at the forefront of international business. But the state is known for its traditional, sometimes conservative, culture, which affects its business culture as well.

Whereas companies embracing English as their primary business language are easy to find in Berlin, the practice is less common in the south. That said, there are some notable exceptions. 

Sportswear giants, Adidas and Puma, both have their headquarters near Nuremberg in Herzogenaurach, and regularly recruit English speaking international talent.

“As an international company, our teams reflect the rich diversity of our consumers and communities,” Jon Greenhalgh, Senior Manager Media Relations for Adidas told The Local. “Fostering a culture of inclusion where we value and leverage differences, ensures that we can authentically engage with our employees and truly connect with our consumers.”

He added that around 40 per cent of Adidas’ Germany-based employees are foreign nationals, from over 100 different countries.

Siemens and BMW rank among Bavaria’s top employers, and are also known to hire their fair share of foreigners.

“In Germany, we recently had around 2,000 open positions,” Konstanze Somborn told The Local on behalf of Siemens AG.

He added that Siemens operates in 190 countries. “That is why we value international teams very much…English as a common language is very usual.”

READ ALSO: ‘Which German companies want to hire foreigners?’

Similarly, BMW hires workers from a variety of backgrounds. 

“Every year, we hire lots of internationals and welcome them to the BMW Group,” Dr. Hans-Peter Ketterl, a press spokesman for BMW Group told The Local. 

But not all of these positions are available to non-German speakers.

Ketterl added that BMW’s working language is German in the country, even though, “English is an indispensable entry requirement as the second corporate language in many areas of the company.”

Check job boards and follow best practices

If it’s your first time applying for jobs in Germany, make sure to change your resume to the German format, even for English positions.

While Germany is home to its own job boards, like Xing, LinkedIn is probably the best place to start. In addition to searching for positions based in your preferred location, you can check relevant groups, like Munich Startups, to broaden your horizons.

The English Jobs in Germany website is also a good resource to start with. 

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