Not long after restarting its plants in Sweden and Belgium, Volvo Cars has made a less pleasant announcement for the workforce in its home country.
The automaker says it is giving notice for a reduction of 1,300 white-collar positions in its Swedish operations, “plus a continued review and reduction of consultancy contracts.” The company stressed that its manufacturing operations will not be affected. Volvo has 24,000 staff in Sweden excluding some 2,000 consultants.
These measures are aimed at accelerating the transformation “to effectively position the company for long term growth.” Volvo added that the amount of job cuts and their exact nature will be decided over the coming months in negotiations with the unions.
Read Also: Volvo Valet App Will Service Your Car While You Stay Home Socially Distant
“Volvo Cars aims to lead the transformation in areas such as online business, electrification, autonomous drive and new mobility models,” the automaker said in a statement. Following substantial investments in those areas, Volvo now aims to reduce structural costs to support further growth longer-term.
“The company also aims to become more agile and reduce hierarchies that are slowing down decision-making and execution,” reads the statement. The automaker said the coronavirus pandemic “has increased the pertinence of the measures announced today” but is not the main cause.
“We want to come out of the corona-crisis stronger, and that is why we are doing this,” Volvo Cars CEO Hakan Samuelsson told Reuters. “It will be important that we have the right cars when we get through this period, lots of electric cars, and I also think that people will learn to shop more online,” he added.
