German luxury carmaker BMW is completing a layoff phase and plans to create 6,000 new jobs next year, CEO Oliver Zipse announced in an interview with German media.
The company has made good progress in transforming its business, has prepared e-mobility facilities and expects sales growth in 2022, Zipse told Münchner Merkur.
“That’s why we will increase our workforce to five percent next year,” Zipse added.
BMW currently has about 120,000 employees after laying off about 6,000 workers last year.
New workers are needed because of the high demand for new electric models, Oliver Zipse explained.
“Our i4 has been sold out for months, as has the iX. Next year, the electric series 7 will come and the same situation awaits us,” Zipse said.
New jobs are being created primarily in Germany, said a BMW spokesman. The i4 is produced in Munich and the iX SUV in Dingolfing.
The company is looking for experts in battery research, automated driving, software development and IT security, as well as IT architects for databases and developers of infotainment and entertainment applications. Production also requires workers for electrical maintenance and plant management.
However, Oliver Zipse warned that the demand could be blocked by an insufficient number of charging stations for electric cars.
“In Europe, the number of electric cars is currently growing five times faster than the infrastructure,” warned the head of the German company, and that is why he strongly opposes the ban on vehicles with internal combustion engines.
“That would inevitably push Germany’s largest industry into a downturn scenario,” Zipse said.
According to him opinion, CO2 reduction targets should be linked with binding goals of building infrastructure for charging electric cars.
Another challenge is the current global shortage of chips, although Zipse believes that the problem will be solved in a year, given the continuous investments.
“I expect that the situation will mostly return to normal by the end of next year,” said the BMW boss.
source: BMW
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