VW Fires More Than 500 Employees Because Of Absence For No Reason, Production Is Disturbed

JAKARTA Volkswagen (VW) has taken firm steps against its employees who are deemed to have violated disciplinary rules. The German automotive manufacturer has reportedly fired more than 500 employees during the first half of 2025, the majority due to attendance cases without notification.

Based on the company's internal report, quoted from Carscoops, Thursday, October 2, 548 employees were temporarily dismissed while another 2,079 received an official warning letter. Of this number, more than 300 employees who work in six VW main production facilities, including Wolfsburg, Emden, and Hanover were also laid off.

Previously, the Head of the VW Brand, Thomas Schrypter, had warned that attendance for no apparent reason could cost the company up to 1 billion euros per year (equivalent to IDR 19.5 trillion). Through internal intranets, VW has also reminded workers that repeated violations could lead to direct dismissal.

This situation further suppresses VW amid declining market demand. Starting October 6, 2025, factories in Zwickau and Dresden will stop production for a week, while facilities at Osnabr\"uck will close full-week operations and then reduce week-end working days.

These facilities produce a number of important models such as ID.4, ID.7, and T-Roc Cabriolet which are planned to be stopped in 2026. Even so, VW still has optimism on superior models such as Golf, Tiguan, and Tayron whose sales remain high.

To anticipate the surge in demand, the company plans to increase production shifts at the Wolfsburg factory. This mass dismissal move does include only a small fraction of the total 560 thousand VW global employees. However, the company has prepared a long-term strategy, including plans to remove up to 35 thousand positions in Germany by 2030.