Severance at Volkswagen – What You Are Entitled To

Workforce reduction at Volkswagen: what you need to know

Volkswagen is in the most far-reaching restructuring of its history. On 20 December 2024, the board, the group works council and IG Metall agreed to a socially acceptable reduction of around 35,000 jobs in Germany by 2030, with compulsory redundancies excluded until end of 2030 (Source: Volkswagen Group; Handelsblatt).

The cuts run primarily via voluntary-leave programmes, partial retirement, termination agreements and natural attrition. The economic pressure therefore shifts to the individual employment situation: What counts as a fair termination offer? When is acceptance worthwhile, when not?

Affected sites

• Wolfsburg: headquarters plant.
• Emden: volume production, ID. models.
• Zwickau: electric mobility (ID.3, ID.4, ID.5).
• Hanover: commercial vehicles (VWN).
• Kassel: components and transmissions.
• Salzgitter: engines and battery-cell production (SalzGiga).
• Dresden & Osnabrück: smaller sites with their own focus.

Related Group-brand plants – Audi (Ingolstadt, Neckarsulm), Porsche (Zuffenhausen, Leipzig), MAN, ŠKODA Germany sales – run on their own social plans and negotiation logic.

IG Metall, social plan and works council

VW is one of the most strongly co-determined companies in Germany: group works council, IG Metall, and the special status under the VW Act shape the negotiating reality. For employees that usually means good leverage, transparent social plans and clear benchmarks.

That said – the first offer is rarely the maximum. In individual cases meaningful uplift is often possible – for example with long tenure, disability, parental leave, or specialised functions.

Typical social-plan factors at Volkswagen

Benchmarks from earlier VW social plans and the current agreement point to a formula in this range:

• Core amount: 1.0 to 1.5 gross monthly salaries × years of service
• Base amount: age-graduated (often €5,000 to €25,000)
• Premiums for disability, family status, critical life situations
• Additional components for early termination ("turbo bonuses")

The specifics vary by site, tariff and function group. We check whether your offer fully exhausts the social plan – and whether more is achievable in your individual case.

Evaluating a voluntary offer: what really matters

A voluntary offer is never a simple yes/no decision. We assess in every case:

• Gross amount and tax impact (Fünftelregelung).
• Unemployment-benefit waiting period – termination agreements without good cause can trigger a 12-week block.
• Pension and social-security impact, especially with long tenure.
• Remaining entitlements: holiday, bonus, variable pay, share programmes.
• Market view: how quickly is follow-up employment realistic?

If a dismissal is issued anyway

If – contrary to the group agreement – a compulsory redundancy is issued, the 3-week deadline under § 4 KSchG applies. In a tariff-bound large employer with a strong works council, the chances of success are high – both for continued employment and for a settlement severance.

How your case runs with us

1. Free first call: we evaluate your specific offer or dismissal.
2. Engagement: litigation funding, no upfront payment.
3. Negotiation with VW / Group HR: via our partner lawyers.
4. Litigation if needed – success rates at large employers are high.
5. Settlement or judgement: usually a severance at the conciliation hearing.

If we succeed, we keep a transparently agreed share of the severance. No success, no payment.