Swedish car manufacturer Volvo Cars, which also has a factory in Ghent, plans to cut 3,000 jobs. Most of the job cuts will affect positions in Sweden, the car manufacturer announced this on Monday.
Around 1,200 office jobs and 1,000 consultant jobs, mainly in Sweden, are set to be impacted. The remaining jobs (around 800) will be cut in other markets where Volvo Cars operates. Around 15% of office jobs worldwide will be lost.
At the end of last month, Volvo Cars had already announced a cost-cutting plan worth around €1.6 billion to cope with a decline in profits and the difficult situation in the sector. The job losses are part of that cost-cutting plan.
The car manufacturer saw its net profit fall by 73% to 1 billion kronor (€91 million) in the first quarter. Sales fell by 12% to 82.9 billion kronor. CEO of Volvo Cars, Hakan Samuelsson, described the quarterly figures as "disappointing."
Volvo Cars is sticking to its goal of evolving into a manufacturer of fully electric cars. The car manufacturer wants to have the structural changes in place by autumn this year.
"The actions we have announced today are difficult decisions, but they are an important step towards a stronger and more resilient Volvo Cars," said Samuelsson. "The automotive industry is going through a challenging period. That is why we need to improve our cash flow and reduce our costs structurally."
Volvo estimates the cost of the restructuring announced on Monday at approximately €139 million.
