Volvo is cutting over 10% of its white-collar workforce in both the United States and Canada as it moves to cut spending around the world.
Company chief executive Jim Rowan wants the car manufacturer to switch to selling nothing but EVs by 2030 and given how expensive this shift will be, is looking to save money in a variety of ways. Rowan says the Swedish automaker wants to become more cost-conscious by looking for ways that it can do things more efficiently.
While recently speaking with Auto News, Volvo Car USA and Canada president Michael Cottone noted that Volvo is spending $88 million globally on its drive to reduce costs and increase efficiencies. In addition to making job cuts, Volvo will offer early retirement to some employees.
Read: Volvo’s EM90 Electric Minivan Is A Zeekr 009 With A Scandi Twist
“There’s not any area of the business that is not impacted,” Cottone said. “We have [many] different reports and jobs, and we’re looking at them to make sure these are the ones that give us the biggest impact and put our resources toward them.”
Volvo has also downsized its Silicon Valley Tech Center and Southern California design center by at least 75%. These job cuts come just a few months after Volvo reduced its Swedish workforce by 6%, cutting some 1,300 jobs.
“It is not so much a cost-cutting program as more of a culture toward cost-consciousness… by doing things differently and more efficiently,” Rowan added. “It behooves us as we grow to be able to put that in early.”
Volvo’s boss added that the company is also reskilling its workforce for the switch to electric vehicles, adding that it also wants to hire those with expertise in battery chemistry, inverters, and silicon carbide.
“We’re not going to reduce investments that help our transformation,” he said. “We’re trying to [ensure] it’s optimized to continue our growth plans into the future, make sure Volvo is focusing the capital in the right areas.”
