BMW plans to cut approximately 8,000 jobs worldwide by the end of 2027 through a voluntary redundancy program, the company announced. The program, which runs from October 2026 to the end of 2027, targets administrative, research and development, planning, and management roles, excluding production workers. BMW's global workforce stood at 154,540 at the end of 2025.
Planned job cuts globally by 2027 through voluntary redundancy.
About 40,000 of BMW's German employees not directly involved in production will be offered the voluntary redundancy package. The company employs approximately 84,000-85,000 people in Germany, according to some estimates, though a previous figure cited over 87,000. The plan was presented to employees in Munich by CEO Milan Nedeljkovic and works council chairman Martin Kimmich.
BMW revised its 2026 profit forecast downward in June 2026 due to worsening conditions in China, where vehicle deliveries fell 30% year-on-year in the three months to June. In 2025, BMW's China deliveries had already dropped 12.5% year-on-year, while global deliveries rose 0.5% to 2,463,681. Sales in Europe rose 7.3% and in the Americas rose 5.6% in 2025.
Neither the protectionism nor far-reaching changes in the market are going to disappear.
Nedeljkovic told staff that the changes reflect "a substantial change to the rules of the game" and are a consequence of "political mandates that are out of step with the market." A BMW spokesperson added that the company is proactively shaping changes including technological transformation, geopolitical uncertainties, changing market conditions, and developments in China.
BMW expects the measures to generate annual savings of around €1 billion from 2028. The voluntary redundancy program itself is expected to cost the company hundreds of millions of euros.