Thousands of Bosch employees hold protest against job cuts

Thousands of Bosch employees protested against job cuts at the German engineering and technology company, according to union sources.

In the town of Buehl in the south-western state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, where the company has its headquarters for electrical drives, there were around 3,000 people, the metalworkers union IG Metall announced on Friday.

Nearly 600 people demonstrated in front of the car supplier's plant in Munich against the closure of the site. According to IG Metall, about 300 Bosch employees also took to the streets in the central town of Arnstadt in the state of Thuringia.

The head of the IG Metall union in Baden-Wuerttemberg, Roman Zitzelsberger, said that relocations to countries with a low-wage economy were increasing, not only at Bosch.

Bosch managing director Filiz Albrecht expressed understanding for the concern over jobs and said the company is aware of its corporate responsibility.

The car industry must make a rapid transition from petrol and diesel vehicles to electric cars to meet the climate targets of the European Union.

The chairman of the central works council of Bosch Mobility Solutions, Frank Sell, was critical: "Bosch is splitting the workforce into winners and losers of structural change."

In Buehl, according to the company, some 700 full-time positions are to be cut in a socially responsible manner by 2025, with less than half to be relocated to Eastern Europe.

In Munich, with around 265 employees, Bosch says it is talking about relocating industrial manufacturing to other sites.

In Arnstadt, the company wants to cease operations because there will soon be no more orders. As the company announced, 100 of the 160 jobs at the site will be affected.