BMW has announced that it will cut thousands of jobs in 2008. BMW failed to release how many jobs would be cut, but sources familiar with the situation say that the cuts could total 8,000. The majority of the cuts will be in Germany, where BMW employs 80,000 workers.
Daniel Schmidt, a BMW spokesman, said that most of the job eliminations will involve temporary workers, although some permanent employees will also be affected. BMW employs between 6,000 and 8,000 temporary workers in Germany.
According to Automotive News, the German automaker employs about 108,000 workers worldwide.
The job cuts are intended to cut costs and improve the company’s profits. Earlier this month, it was reported that BMW has fallen out of favor with some of its suppliers due to a new focus on price rather than quality. It remains unclear if the new changes will affect the automaker’s status as a premium brand.
