Recently, major auto manufacturers around the world have announced their plans to cut jobs one after another. According to the data collected, the global auto industry will cut more than 80,000 jobs in the next few years, and a new round of layoffs has been formed.


What is the reason for this phenomenon? What is wrong with the auto industry?


Evando, CNBC: another round of job cuts in the global auto industry has arrived. In the past week alone Daimler and audi, Germany's two biggest carmakers, announced a combined cut of almost 20,000 jobs. The job cuts are concentrated in Germany, the U.S. and the u.k., but faster-growing economies are not entirely immune, and major auto makers are scaling back their local operations.


The President of the German association of automobile manufacturers also gave a new warning to the media that workers in the auto industry will face a cold winter. He said the scale of job losses in the German car industry would be even greater next year. This round of layoffs in the auto industry is a combination of factors.


The trend towards electrification threatens traditional automotive jobs

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From the perspective of market environment, the turbulence of brexit, international trade friction of major economies and the continuous popularization of ride-sharing technology and application have all impacted the demand side of automobiles and disrupted the environment of automobile production.


Within the industry, the trend towards electrification is also upending the car market.


First, global car sales are falling at their fastest pace since the financial crisis.


Fitch, the ratings agency, forecast in November that global auto sales would fall 3.1 million units this year, worse than in 2008. German car production, the locomotive of the European car industry, has fallen by 18% since its mid-2018 peak.


On the other hand, the trend toward electrification is threatening the jobs of workers in the traditional auto industry.


Gm closed three plants this year to save money on new cars. Mercedes-benz announced last week that it would cut 10,000 jobs for similar reasons. Audi also recently announced it would lay off 9,500 employees to save about 6 billion euros to invest in electric cars.


IG Metall, Germany's main automotive union, predicts that 75,000 jobs in making conventional engines and gearboxes will be eliminated by 2030. The union also called on auto companies and government agencies to help address unemployment in the auto industry through retirement and retraining.