German auto technology supplier Bosch to cut thousands of jobs

Germany’s technology and services company Bosch said on Friday it planned to reduce its automotive division workforce by as many as 5,500 jobs in the next several years in another sign of the headwinds hitting the German and global auto industries.

The company cited stagnating global auto sales, too much factory capacity in the auto industry compared to sales prospects and a slower than expected transition to electric-powered, software-controlled vehicles.

Some 3,500 of the job reductions would come before the end of 2027 and would hit the part of the company that develops advanced driver assistance and automated driving technologies, as well as centralized vehicle software, said Bosch, which is headquartered in Gerlingen near Stuttgart. About half those job reductions would be at locations in Germany.

“The auto industry has significant overcapacities,” the company said in a statement. “In addition, the market for future technologies is not developing as originally expected … At the moment, many projects in this business area are being put off or abandoned by automakers.”

In addition, 750 jobs would be lost at a plant in Hildesheim, Germany by end 2032, 600 of those by the end of 2026. A plant in Schwaebisch Gmund would lose some 1,300 over between 2027 and 2030.

The reductions are still in the planning stage and final numbers would have to be agreed with employee representatives and carried out in what the company said would be a socially responsible way. A jobs pact that promised no layoffs in Germany until 2027 for many division employees and until 2029 in some circumstances would remain in effect.

Some 230,000 people work for Bosch’s mobility division, out of a global workforce of 429,000. In addition to its business as an auto industry supplier Bosch makes factory and building equipment and software across a range of products including industrial boilers and waste-heat recovery systems, video security systems, and power tools.