Today's Edition
Stuttgart (dpa)
The German luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz is relying on generous severance pay to achieve planned job cuts in administration.
Informed sources say that sums of over 500,000 euros (around $543,000) are being offered to long-standing employees to voluntarily leave the company.
The employees are protected from compulsory lay-offs by an employment guarantee until the end of 2034. That means the company has to offer attractive financial incentives to implement the job cuts, which are part of a comprehensive austerity programme.
A spokeswoman for the company said in Stuttgart on Friday that the company does not comment publicly on the terms of the severance programme.
"Mercedes-Benz stands by its responsibility to its employees: we act in a socially responsible and fair manner," the spokeswoman said.
On the carmaker's intranet, employees can get an initial overview of what they will receive when they leave the company. So far, the firm has not provided any information on the number of employees it hopes will accept the offer.
But employee representatives say the number is in the thousands and includes administrative staff.
The Handelsblatt newspaper reported that a 55-year-old team leader with a gross monthly salary of around 9,000 euros and 30 years of service with the company can expect a severance payment of more than 500,000 euros.
A 45-year-old administrator who has been with Mercedes for 20 years and earns around 7,500 euros gross per month can expect more than 300,000 euros.
Mercedes-Benz wants to save around 5 billion euros by 2027, according to earlier statements.
