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Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) - The Baden-Württemberg regional head of the Federal Employment Agency, Christian Rauch, expects a steady loss of jobs in the auto sector in the coming years.
«In addition to digitalization and the transformation towards new drive variants, I see a third major trend in the automotive sector.
Namely, that we have overcapacity there, because in the next few years car sales will probably not reach the record level of the last few years, at least that's what all the forecasts say, "said Rauch of the German press agency.
"That means: Regardless of whether combustion or electric motors are produced, we have overcapacities in the automotive industry," said Rauch.
"From my point of view, this inevitably leads to adjustments in their capacities at the companies, which unfortunately will also lead to staff reductions in the chain."
This means that the number of jobs in the automotive industry will continue to decrease "bit by bit" over the next few years.
This can be seen, for example, with a view to the severance pay programs launched by many corporations.
Rauch emphasized: "We are not seeing a dramatic increase in unemployment, but a steady one."
The automotive sector - which includes manufacturers as well as many suppliers - is already "at a significantly lower level of employment" than it was three years ago.
"And I don't see that this trend has come to an end."
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The automotive sector is considered a key sector in Baden-Württemberg.
According to the employment agency, 500,000 jobs depend directly on this industry - that alone is more than ten percent of all jobs in the southwest.
If you stretch the spectrum a little further and, for example, also include repair shops and other automotive-related industries, the number of jobs in the region that are dependent on the automotive sector even increases to as much as 800,000.