Shortened workweek initiative at Bosch: Tech conglomerate abbreviates employee working hours.
In a significant move aimed at boosting competitiveness and securing its future, Bosch has announced plans to cut up to 1,100 jobs at its plant in Reutlingen, southern Germany. The affected departments primarily include the assembly line, production of control units, and administrative roles.
The decision, driven by tougher market conditions in the control unit sector, comes as a result of falling unit volumes and increasing competitive and price pressure, making production at this site no longer competitive. Bosch is, however, shifting the plant's focus to semiconductor manufacturing, with significant investment in expanding its cleanroom facilities by the end of 2025. The new focus will be on producing silicon carbide chips for electric vehicles.
Notably, divisions like Bosch E-Bike Systems and Bosch Sensortec are not affected by the job cuts. This site-specific reduction forms part of a larger trend at Bosch, which since the end of 2023 has been implementing global redundancy programs. So far, more than 14,000 jobs have been cut, mostly in Germany’s supplier sector.
Meanwhile, Bosch is also reducing working hours at locations other than Abstatt, affecting 600 employees in the "Corporate Research" departments in Renningen and Hildesheim. The reduced working hours will be from 38 or 40 hours to 35 hours, starting from January 1, 2026.
Last year, the location in Abstatt was also affected by working hour reductions. However, the exact department affected was not specified. The technology company is taking these measures due to the tense economic situation.
It is important to note that this restructuring reflects Bosch’s strategic pivot to semiconductors and its effort to maintain competitiveness amid a challenging automotive market and new competition. External content, provided by a third-party provider, is displayed on some locations, recommended by the editorial team. This content can be shown or hidden with a click.
An employee at the Abstatt location had previously complained about a lack of information among the workforce. Bosch's actions are intended to secure jobs, despite continuing ambitious acquisition strategies elsewhere. The report was made by the Stuttgarter Zeitung.
The strategic pivot of Bosch towards semiconductors, prompted by the challenging automotive market and new competition, has led to the announcement of job cuts in certain departments, as the company aims to cut up to 1,100 jobs at its plant in Reutlingen. Concurrently, divisions like Bosch E-Bike Systems and Bosch Sensortec remain unaffected.
