Karlheinz Blessing, Volkswagen's Head of HR: Electric cars could mean "5-digit" job cuts

The upcoming shift to electric cars which, according to a Kia study titled ‘Centre for Future Studies,’ could see the company make a quarter of all the world’s vehicles by 2041 – and a third of all new cars sold – may result in five-digit job cuts at Volkswagen (VW),  newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports.

Karlheinz Blessing, Volkswagen’s Head of HR & Organisation, told the newspaper in an interview this weekend: “It's not about dismantling a few hundred jobs.

“Over the years, it will amount to a five-digit figure around the world."

Following last year’s emissions scandal, the firm’s strategy has now shifted towards clean-energy electric cars. But this comes at a price – electric cars have fewer components, which means fewer workers needed on the production line.