Bosch to cut jobs by 2030

Stuttgart (dpa) — German automotive supplier Bosch is facing severe cost-cutting measures in light of the crisis in the industry.

Markus Heyn, head of mobility, and Stefan Grosch, Bosch’s labour director, told the Stuttgarter Zeitung and Stuttgarter Nachrichten newspapers on Monday that the costs of the business division are to be reduced by €2.5 billion ($2.9 billion) per year.

The company, based in Gerlingen near Stuttgart, has been working on reducing its costs for some time. However, the group’s management had not previously specified a precise savings target. Further job cuts will be unavoidable, according to a statement.

“The entire industry is undergoing a comprehensive transformation, and that is a marathon. We must continuously focus on how to maintain our competitiveness,” said Heyn. Important first steps have been taken, he said, but more would have to be done.

Grosch said the cost gap is to be significantly reduced in the coming years and closed by 2030 at the latest.

Bosch has had a whole series of job reduction programmes in place since the end of 2023, particularly in the supplier sector. Thousands of jobs are to be cut worldwide, many of them in Germany. Grosch and Heyn did not specify how many additional jobs are now at risk.

Frank Sell, chairman of the general works council for the supplier division, said extensive cost savings had already been made: “We therefore expect management to provide concrete details of what is planned in the near future following this latest announcement.”

The crisis in the automotive sector is hitting Bosch hard. However, the company announced at the recent IAA Mobility trade fair in Munich that sales are expected to increase by slightly less than 2% in the current year.