Volvo Cars Will Lay Off 1,300 Workers In Sweden As It Seeks To Reduce Costs

Volvo Cars announced on Thursday that it will lay off approximately 1,300 office-based employees in Sweden as part of its cost-cutting efforts. While an earlier efficiency drive had begun to yield results, CEO Jim Rowan stated in a statement that more was required. "Economic headwinds, higher raw material prices, and increased competition are likely to remain a challenge to our industry for some time," he said.

The 1,300 positions represent 6% of Volvo Cars' Swedish workforce. Rowan told Reuters that the group did not yet know how much money the new measures would save them. "We're still working through the details on that," he said in an interview. The company stated that it had issued redundancy notices to 1,100 employees, and that the remaining 200 white-collar positions would be identified following a review of the company's operations throughout Sweden. It also stated that it expects to cut jobs and cut costs across its global operations, including its consultancies, in the coming months.

Rowan said he could not yet specify where those jobs would be cut, but that focus would primarily remain on office-based positions. "We sell in over 80 countries or so worldwide, so I think there's opportunities for us to become more efficient across the entire network," he told Reuters.