German luxury car manufacturer Porsche will cut another 5,000 jobs in the coming years, according to the Bild newspaper, which announced the first wave of layoffs a few days ago.
The company's management and the works council announced the layoffs at a general meeting of employees in Stuttgart. A decision has already been made to cut 3,900 jobs by 2025. Approximately 500 additional vacancies will be eliminated in subsidiaries.
At the same time, Porsche is extending the guarantee of job security and production facilities at its main plant in Stuttgart until the end of 2035. Therefore, employer-initiated layoffs are excluded. The reduction in staff numbers is planned primarily through natural turnover, partial retirement programs and mutually agreed terminations with compensation. However, salary increases until 2035 will be partially withheld and Christmas bonuses will be reduced.
In addition, the size of annual bonuses for employees will now be more closely tied to the company's financial results, the newspaper explains. A significant portion of the management team will forgo a base salary increase in 2027 and 2028. Porsche is also limiting remote work. Employees are now allowed to work from home for no more than eight days a month, down from 12. In return, the automaker has committed to investing 2.1 billion euros in its German operations.
Porsche, like other German automakers, has faced challenges in recent years. Initially caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the problems have worsened since 2022 due to sharply rising energy prices and increased competition from Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers. The new round of cost-cutting was mainly driven by declining sales in China, rising US tariffs and high costs for redesigning the model range.
Porsche has been growing rapidly for many years. The company's workforce has grown by 75% since 2015, recently reaching nearly 42,000 employees. Sales, however, are declining. Three years ago, Porsche sold about 320,000 cars, but by 2026 the company expects to sell only about 250,000. As a result, plant utilization has fallen significantly below planned levels.