A Hefty Severance Package?

VW Offers a Quarter of a Million to Get Employees to Leave!

Volkswagen is reducing its workforce and digging deep into its pockets to do so.(Bild: AFP/Handout)

The crisis-stricken automaker Volkswagen plans to cut a massive number of jobs in Germany—and is digging deep into its pockets to do so. A new severance program is designed to encourage employees with low and mid-level salaries to leave voluntarily. However, this offer—which is particularly costly from the company’s perspective—applies to only a few hundred employees.

Specifically, VW plans to cut up to 60,000 jobs across the entire group by 2030—and according to “Manager Magazin,” severance packages of more than 250,000 euros are possible. Thomas Schäfer, the brand chief responsible for Germany, is expected to cut around 12,000 jobs on his own. As *Manager Magazin* reports, citing an internal presentation, the new “voluntary termination agreement program” is aimed at employees in selected areas—including the main plant in Wolfsburg.

Here are the figures:
The program targets employees in pay grades 1 through 12. The lowest grades include, for example, employees in the food service sector—where salaries start at just over 2,400 euros gross per month. Production workers are typically classified in pay grades 7 through 9; depending on their experience, they earn around 3,900 to 4,300 euros gross.

The amount of the severance payment depends on pay grade and length of service:

Employees in pay grade 11/12 with more than 20 years of service at VW are eligible forup to 209,000 euros.

Employees in pay grade 7/8 with five to ten years of service receive71,200 euros.

Employees in pay grade 3/4 with 15 to 20 years of service receive126,100 euros.

Extra money for those who act fast:
According to the magazine, those who act particularly quickly will receive a special bonus of 55,000 euros on top of that. Requirements: at least five years at VW, an expression of interest between November 16 and December 4—and signing the termination agreement within 14 days.

However, the offer is limited. According to the company, it expects only a few hundred additional termination agreements. If there are more interested parties than the budget allows, the date of the expression of interest will determine eligibility. VW also emphasizes the principle of mutual consent: both the employee and the company must agree.

VW has been running a severance program for administrative and development staff in Germany since 2024, under which severance payments of 400,000 euros and more have even been made.