Porsche announces new workforce reduction

Luxury carmaker Porsche AG announced that it will eliminate another 5,000 jobs in Germany by 2035 as part of its €2.1 billion restructuring program, while guaranteeing that there will be no compulsory mass layoffs during that period, DPA reported.

The additional workforce reductions will affect Porsche's main production facility in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen and its research and development (R&D) center in Weissach, Germany, CE Report quotes AGERPRES.

The Volkswagen subsidiary reached an agreement with the employees' works council on Monday to extend its job security guarantee through 2035 and ruled out compulsory layoffs for operational reasons.

The company said the workforce reductions will be carried out in a socially responsible manner, primarily through retirements, early retirement schemes and voluntary departure agreements.

The announcement follows a restructuring plan agreed in February 2025, under which around 1,900 jobs in the Stuttgart region were to be eliminated by 2029, while approximately 2,000 fixed-term contracts were not renewed.

At the end of 2025, Porsche employed about 20,600 people in the Stuttgart region, down from 22,200 in 2024. Globally, the automaker had nearly 41,800 employees.

Last year, Porsche's vehicle sales fell 10 percent to around 279,400 vehicles, the lowest level since 2020. In China, once Porsche's largest market, sales have been cut in half between 2021 and 2025.

Once one of the most profitable businesses within the Volkswagen Group, Porsche has faced a sharp decline in profit margins in recent years, largely due to challenges in China, the world's largest automotive market.

German newspaper Bild had previously reported that CEO Michael Leiters planned to reduce the workforce by between 5,000 and 6,000 employees by 2035.

Parent company Volkswagen AG has warned that 100,000 jobs worldwide could eventually be eliminated across the group.

Volkswagen remains under pressure from weak demand in Europe, higher costs resulting from U.S. tariffs, and the expensive transition to electric vehicles (EVs), all of which have weighed on earnings.

The automaker has already announced plans to eliminate 50,000 jobs in Germany by 2030, including 35,000 positions at the core Volkswagen brand and the remainder at subsidiaries such as Audi and Porsche. More than 37,000 employees have already signed voluntary departure agreements.

After reporting lower second-quarter profits, Volkswagen also cut its full-year 2026 sales forecast and now expects revenue to decline by up to 3 percent, compared with its previous projection of revenue growth of up to 3 percent.

The Volkswagen Group's portfolio includes 12 brands, including Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, Škoda, Lamborghini, Seat, Bentley, as well as truck manufacturers MAN and Scania.

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