Auto supplier Bosch wants to cut thousands more jobs

At Bosch, one piece of bad news has recently followed another. Because of the crisis in the auto industry, the supplier wants to cut even more jobs than previously known. In the coming years there will be a further “need for adjustment” of up to 5,550 jobs, the company said. More than two thirds of these – a total of 3,800 jobs – are to be eliminated in Germany.

“Global vehicle production will stagnate at around 93 million units this year, if not even decline slightly compared to the previous year,” said Bosch. At most, a small recovery is expected next year. There is significant overcapacity in the industry. Other suppliers have also announced staff cuts in recent weeks and months: ZF Friedrichshafen wants to get rid of a quarter of its employees in Germany, 2,800 jobs are to be cut at Schaeffler in this country, and Continental has been cutting tens of thousands of jobs for years.

And if you take a closer look at the divisions in which the proud Stuttgart foundation group Bosch wants to save personnel, it becomes clear: This is really about an acute crisis, no longer about the transformation from combustion engines to electric motors. Because the supplier saves in areas that should actually make it fit for the mobility of the future.

The “Cross-Domain Computing Solutions” division, which is responsible for assistance systems and automated driving, for example, is most affected by the current plans. By the end of 2027, 3,500 jobs will be lost worldwide, around half of them in Germany. It is primarily about the Leonberg and Abstatt locations in Baden-Württemberg and Hildesheim in Lower Saxony. In the factory in Hildesheim, where products for electromobility are manufactured, there will be 600 fewer employees in two years – and another 150 fewer by 2032.

The manufacturers are also in crisis

The company obviously gambled away the future technologies in which Bosch had invested a lot of money and personnel. The market for intelligent driver assistance systems and self-driving cars is not developing as quickly or well as expected. Because the major manufacturers, especially Volkswagen, but also Ford and Mercedes, are also in crisis, they are putting many projects in new business areas on hold or giving them up entirely. For example, they purchase significantly fewer parts for electric cars.

Bosch also has savings plans for the division that produces steering systems for cars and trucks. According to its own statements, the increased competition there is causing problems for the group. In response, job cuts are planned at the Schwäbisch Gmünd location. Up to 1,300 jobs are to be cut there between 2027 and 2030, more than a third of the workforce. In order to be able to sell the steering systems at “more competitive prices,” Bosch wants to have more of them produced in its foreign factories where this is cheaper, such as Hungary.

Sharp criticism from the works council

The numbers are planning. The board will now negotiate with the works council how many jobs Bosch will actually cut; discussions should begin immediately. The dismantling should be as socially acceptable as possible. According to a spokesman, Bosch continues to stand by its agreement with employee representatives, which excludes operational dismissals in the supplier division in Germany until the end of 2027, and at some locations even until the end of 2029. Among other things, Bosch wants to take advantage of natural fluctuation, offer early retirement schemes or move people to other jobs convey.

Sharp criticism of the plans came from employee representatives. “The company’s announcement that it will reduce staff to this extent is a slap in the face for the employees,” said the works council head of the supplier division, Frank Sell German press agency. The additional staff cuts within a short period of time lead to a loss of trust in the management and lead to great uncertainty. In recent months, Bosch has also cut the working hours of thousands of employees – and their salaries accordingly.

“Due to the company’s unilateral intervention in employee pay, we have reached a new low in our cooperation with management,” said Sell. This will ensure social peace in the Companies put at risk. “We will now organize our resistance to these plans at all levels.” For a good year, the technology group’s plans to cut jobs worldwide had repeatedly been announced. It remains to be feared that the current bad news from Stuttgart will not be the last.