Volkswagen Creates 50,000 Jobs Outside EU

02 Apr 2013

German car-making giant Volkswagen said on Monday it plans to create 50,000 jobs before 2018. But uncertainty in the eurozone will mean the majority of new employment opportunities will open up outside of Europe.

Volkswagen at present employs some 550,000 people across the world and is hoping to increase that number to 600,000 by 2018. However uncertainties within the eurozone mean most of the jobs will go abroad.

“Given the slump in sales we’re seeing in Europe, we need to look carefully at the areas in which we boost staff numbers,” Chairman of the General and Group Works Councils of Volkswagen, Bernd Osterloh told business daily Handelsblatt in comments due to be published on Tuesday.

While the company is seeing continued growth, Osterloh explained that this applied “less to Europe and more to China.” Some 300,000 Volkswagen workers are employed outside of Germany, and of those, half outside of Europe.

One consequence of the process of internationalisation is, according to Osterloh, the expansion of German business into previously untapped regions.“The secret of success at Volkswagen lies in the culture of participation,” he said.

Source: http://www.thelocal.de/jobs/?site=tlse&AID=48869#.UVpkNRenBvA