The layoffs come days after US President Donald Trump threatened 50 p.c tariffs on EU items.
Swedish automaker Volvo is about to chop 3,000 white-collar jobs amid restructuring efforts as costs start to rise as a consequence of tariff-driven uncertainty.
The corporate introduced the information on Monday. The layoffs come because the Swedish automaker tries to resurrect its rock-bottom share value and drum up higher demand for its vehicles by restructuring a part of its enterprise and slicing prices.
CEO Hakan Samuelsson, who was not too long ago introduced again to the function after heading the corporate for a decade till 2022, unveiled a programme in April to slash prices by $1.9bn (18 billion Swedish crowns), together with a considerable minimize to Volvo’s white-collar workers, who make up 40 p.c of its workforce.
“It’s white collar in nearly all areas, together with R&D [research and development], communication, human assets,” Samuelsson informed the Reuters information company.
The layoffs signify round 15 p.c of the corporate’s workplace workers, Volvo Vehicles stated in a press release, and would incur a one-time restructuring value of $160m (1.5 billion crowns).
Volvo Vehicles’ new CFO Fredrik Hansson informed Reuters that whereas all of its departments and areas can be impacted, many of the redundancies will occur in Gothenburg.
“It’s tailor-made to make us structurally extra environment friendly, after which how that performs out would possibly differ a bit relying on the world. However no stone is left unturned,” Hansson stated.
With most of its manufacturing primarily based in Europe and China, Volvo Vehicles is extra uncovered to new United States tariffs than a lot of its European rivals, and has stated it may turn into inconceivable to export its most reasonably priced vehicles to the US.
The corporate stated in a press launch that it will finalise a brand new structural setup by the third quarter of this yr.
Volvo withdrew its monetary steering because it introduced its value cuts final month, pointing to unpredictable markets amid weaker shopper confidence and commerce tariffs inflicting turmoil within the world auto business.
The layoff announcement comes solely days after US President Donald Trump threatened to impose a 50 p.c tariff on imports from the European Union from June 1. On Monday, nonetheless, he backed away from that date, restoring a July 9 deadline to permit for talks between Washington and Brussels.
In consequence, Volvo’s CEO stated the transfer would make it tougher for it to promote one in all its electrical automobiles (EVs) — the EX30 EV that’s made in Belgium — within the US market.
