Daimler will avoid forced firings as it seeks savings at Mercedes
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FRANKFURT (Bloomberg) -- Daimler will avoid forced job cuts as it reduces costs at Mercedes-Benz to keep pushing toward its goal of overtaking BMW in sales and profit.
"We're looking everywhere to increase efficiency at Mercedes-Benz Cars," spokesman Florian Martens said. The savings won't involve firings, which are excluded until the end of 2016 under an agreement with unions, he said.
Daimler was responding to a report by Manager Magazin that said Mercedes plans to eliminate more than 1,000 non-production jobs in sales, human resources and finance departments.
Daimler is under pressure to boost sales and profit at Mercedes. The company last year postponed a Mercedes profit target to 2014 at the earliest, four years later than originally planned. To revive profits, CEO Dieter Zetsche initiated a savings program dubbed Fit for Leadership to trim 2 billion euros ($2.6 billion) from spending by the end of 2014.
"A reduction in work force would be possible only on the basis of voluntary agreements," Martens said on Wednesday. "No decisions on personnel measures have been taken."
Zetsche's contract last month was extended by three years, shorter than a planned five-year extension after investment funds voiced concerns.
