On 15 January the Federal Chancellery hosted a summit meeting that focused on safeguarding employment in Germany’s auto industry. All the relevant actors in the sector attended the meeting and although no statement was issued when it concluded, the intention had been to be a preparatory session ahead of the implementation of a number of measures including some already being discussed and other totally new ideas, all of which aim to facilitate both the sector’s transition towards electric vehicle production and reskill thousands of workers. Among the measures being put forward are extending the length of partial unemployment, lowering employers’ social charges for partial unemployment situations, providing greater training opportunities that until now had been subsidized as part of the digital economy framework, and creating a new corporation status called the ‘Transformation Company’.
United in seeking to jointly defend jobs in Germany’s primary industry. Berlin’s policy towards electrical energy continues to drive the country’s auto sector towards electric vehicle use and production. After a ‘Summit’ meeting in November 2019 on electricity supply infrastructures and support for the purchase of electric vehicles, the Federal Chancellery invited the sector’s actors to another Summit meeting on 15 January that focused on the dual issue of protecting auto sector jobs and worker re-skilling.
Do you have information to share with us?