Major Auto Supplier Bosch To Cut 13,000 Jobs From Global Workforce
Tariffs have already had an enormous impact on the world, hurting entire industries and even entire countries. We’ve already seen automakers like General Motors report over $1 billion in income losses due to tariffs, certain imported vehicle prices have already skyrocketed, and even the used market is being impacted. Tariffs don’t just affect completed cars, but also the parts used to build and maintain them.
Now, the world’s largest automotive parts supplier is cutting jobs in response to tariffs. German company Bosch will cut 13,000 jobs over the next five years, in response to tariffs, foreign competition, and slowing demand for new technology such as hydrogen. That represents about 10% of Bosch’s German workforce, and about 3% of its employees globally.
“Demand for our products is shifting significantly to regions outside Europe. We need to orient ourselves to where our markets and customers are.”
– Stefan Grosch, head of industrial relations at Bosch.
Tariffs Are A Huge Barrier
Tariffs represent a major hurdle for companies like Bosch to overcome. The Trump Administration originally placed a 30% tariff on the European Union, but later lowered it to 15%. That number might not sound like a lot, but in an industry with tight margins, it can be the difference between 13,000 people keeping their jobs.
“Geopolitical developments and trade barriers such as tariffs lead to considerable uncertainty and this is something that we, like all companies, have to deal with,” Markus Heyn, member of the board of management of Bosch and chairman of the Mobility business sector, said in a press release.
“We urgently need to work on our competitiveness in the Mobility business and continue to permanently reduce our costs. We are using many levers to achieve this. Regrettably, we will not be able to avoid further job cuts beyond those already communicated. This hurts us greatly, but unfortunately there is no alternative,” Stefan Grosch added.
Other Causes Of The Lost Jobs
While tariffs represent a major reason for the job losses, Bosch cites other global factors, some of which are not completely unrelated to President Trump and his administration’s policies. Bosch says, “the lack of a regulatory framework is making it difficult to establish new technologies, such as hydrogen.” A push towards hydrogen technology, electromobility, and automated driving outside Europe, specifically in the US and China, would help bolster demand in Bosch sales.
“This ‘climate change,’ it’s the greatest conjob ever perpetrated on the world, in my opinion,” Trump said this week at the United Nations. “All of these predictions made by the United Nations and many others, often for bad reasons, were wrong. They were made by stupid people that have cost their countries fortunes and given those same countries no chance for success. If you don’t get away from this green scam, your country is going to fail.”
Bosch is attempting to close a €2.5 billion ($2.9 billion) cost cap by cutting these jobs and streamlining supply chains. The cuts will come in various phases by 2030.
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