Employees

Including the vehicle-producing Chinese joint ventures, the Volkswagen Group employed a total of 368,500 people worldwide on December 31, 2009. This represents a change of –0.4% compared with the end of 2008 (369,928 employees). Volkswagen thus succeeded in maintaining employment levels constant even during the financial and economic crisis. It is thanks in particular to its flexible policy on working hours that the Company succeeded in overcoming the crisis in 2009. It enabled cuts in the core workforce to be avoided in the first quarter. There was no need to recruit additional permanent staff in the following quarters, which were characterized by high utilization.

Volkswagen’s workforce stepped up to the challenges last year posed by the fluctuations in volumes but also the over 20 start-ups, demonstrating outstanding motivation and commitment. The Group enhanced its Staff development measures in 2009 to increase the dedication and specialist expertise of employees throughout the entire Group.