VW cries ‘wolf’ over short-time working

Sabre-rattling by Volkswagen over possible interruptions to production of Golf and Passat passenger cars due to component shortage proved to be empty words.

The expected short-time work at five plants proved to be “not required” as “internal flexibilization measures” took charge of the situation and cushioned any damage to workers’ take-home pay or production output.

The German carmaker claims that following the agreement reached with two suppliers, it could significantly reduce the effects of interruptions in production and for the most part compensate for downtimes by means of internal flexibilization measures.

The company had initially made precautionary arrangements for flexibilization measures at six plants and had not ruled out short-time work.

VW adds that thanks to the “swift return to normal production”, short-time work at the five plants in Wolfsburg, Zwickau, Kassel, Salzgitter and Braunschweig were not required.

VW further claims that affected sections at the Kassel and Salzgitter plants resumed normal production “immediately”. This was made possible by flexibilization measures similar to those also deployed at the affected section of the Braunschweig plant.

The vehicle production plants in Wolfsburg, Zwickau and Emden also began intensive preparations to return to full production as soon as possible immediately following the agreement.

Consequently, permission for short-time work was sought only for the Emden plant, while internal measures were used to bridge interruptions in Wolfsburg and Zwickau.

So that’s alright then! No cause for concern.