Employees of the Volkswagen Group Future Centre in Potsdam, a design center with about 100 employees, are protesting the planned closure of the factory at the end of this year.
More than 50 employees protested the closure of the nearly 20-year-old site in eastern Germany at a meeting organized by the IG Metall union on Monday.
“I want a fair chance,” said works council chairman Anno Stake. “We’ve done great projects here, we’re still doing great projects.”
Approximately two-thirds of the site’s budget has been cut over the past year and a half as a result of internal restructuring within the Group.
The management of the VW Design Centre says it wants to find an answer that works in the interests of the employees. “The management of the Future Centre Potsdam regrets the current situation and is looking for the best possible solutions for the employees,” Volkswagen Group Services told dpa.
The centre opened in 2005 and was later restructured and renamed. It was considered the group’s largest development workshop worldwide after the first reorganisation.
The teams of designers, digitalization and model making experts develop vehicle concepts and designs for future vehicle generations, such as self-driving cars.
“These tasks have now become part of series development for the brands and an integral part of individual vehicle projects,” VW Group Services said. The operational activities of the Volkswagen Group Future Centre Europe will therefore cease at the end of 2024, although discussions about its future are still ongoing.
