BMW employees brace for biggest downsizing in over a decade due to coronavirus

German carmaker, BMW is reportedly laying off thousands of contract workers and employees in wake of coronavirus pandemic. The automobile industry is one of the worst-hit by the COVID-19 outbreak as car makers witnessed a sharp decline in sales and demand plunged. In order to sail through the tough times, many carmakers have opted for workforce reduction and BMW is the latest one to join.

The Munich-based luxury car brand has reportedly reached an agreement with the works council to minimize the impact on laid-off employees. The carmaker has adopted various measures such as offering early retirement through settlements, and financial support to younger employees to further higher education with a guaranteed job upon completion.

BMW softening blow

BMW is also reducing the number of working hours and has no plans to replace a number of vacant positions, Reuters reported in its developments about BMW layoffs. The job reductions account for less than 5 percent of BMW's total workforce of 126,000 employees. However, this is the biggest downsizing BMW has done in over a year as the company hadn't laid-off workers since 2008.

In wake of coronavirus pandemic, BMW, like many other global car brands, shut down its production plants and temporarily closed its dealerships in March. As the world is slowly starting to find its feet during these tough times, dealerships are reopening for business but sales are still off to a slow start just as industry experts suspected.