The restructuring events database contains factsheets with data on large-scale restructuring events reported in the principal national media and company websites in each EU Member State. This database was created in 2002.
Manufacturing Manufacture For Transport Equipment Manufacture Of Motor Vehicles, Trailers And Semi-Trailers 29.1 - Manufacture of motor vehicles
850 jobs Number of planned job losses
100 jobs Number of planned job creations
Announcement Date
29 April 2020
Employment effect (start)
1 October 2020
Foreseen end date
31 December 2020
Description
Volvo Cars announced its plan to dismiss 1160 employees working at the production unit of Gothenburg and 140 employees working at the production unit of Skövde. The company informed also about the dismissal of 300 consults.
Volvo Cars argues that these dismissals are connected to the ongoing shift towards a more agile organisational model. The company plans to increase its focus on online activities, fleet electrification, and self-driving cars. While the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are not directly related to this restructuring event, the rapidly changed market environment has made the need for this shift more urgent.
A representative of trade union Unionen argued that while they support the Volvo Cars’ efforts to shift towards a new organisational model, they would have wanted the company to continue this shift without dismissals.
Updated 01/10/20
Volvo Cars will reduce staffing levels by 590 employees in Göteborg and 60 employees in Skövde. In total, 650 white-collar employers are losing their jobs, which is half as many redundancies than what was announced in April 2020. In addition, 300 consultants will also leave the company. According to the HR director, 90% are voluntary redundancies.
The company also announced that by the end of this year, they will hire approximately 100 new employees with specific set of skills needed by Volvo Cars.
Digitisation and automation technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), can affect working conditions in a variety of ways and their use in the workplace raises a host of new ethical concerns.
The retail banking sector is fertile ground for studying the impacts of digitalisation on work and employment. Financial services are increasingly provided online, without the intermediary of customer-facing institutions.
European labour markets have recovered strongly from COVID-19. By the end of 2021, little more than 18 months after the start of the pandemic, employment rates in the EU were almost at pre-crisis levels.
