Volkswagen’s European and Global Works Council says management wants to keep wages at 2026 levels through 2030, a proposal that could affect about 660,000 employees while leaving pay decisions to local bargaining.
The council said Oct. 19 that a directive to the group’s human resources managers took effect in early October. The council called the approach “absurd.” Reuters reported that Volkswagen declined to comment on the reported plan, calling it “speculation.”
The council estimates the proposal’s reach at about 660,000 employees. Volkswagen’s latest published figure was 652,200 employees as of June 30, 2026, down from 662,900 on Dec. 31, 2025.
In Germany, IG Metall is seeking a 5% pay increase over 12 months. The union says 275,000 Volkswagen employees work in the country, including 130,000 covered by the company’s in-house collective agreement. The council warned that, if price increases continue at a recent pace, employees could lose at least a tenth of their purchasing power by 2030.
A December 2024 agreement suspended a collectively agreed 5.5% raise for employees covered by the relevant Volkswagen agreement in 2025 and 2026. Volkswagen said extending the suspension through 2030 could help pay for a socially responsible reduction of more than 35,000 jobs at German sites.
Volkswagen’s Supervisory Board approved the Executive Board’s Future Plan 2030 on Sept. 3. The plan calls for an approximately 50,000-position workforce adjustment across the group, including management roles, and targets a 9% operating margin by 2030. Volkswagen has cited competitive pressure, shifts in demand and changes in automotive technology as reasons for the restructuring. Volkswagen Group CEO Oliver Blume said the plan reflects the company’s obligations to its employees, business partners and industrial employment worldwide.
The company set the end of June 2027 for developing a concept for a sustainable and competitive production structure at its European plants.
