VDL Nedcar to cut another 2,000 jobs; Union wants support for dismissed workers

More than 2,000 jobs will disappear from the VDL Nedcar automotive factory in March, as BMW will no longer use the facility to assemble its vehicles. Parent company VDL will thus eliminate the majority of the remaining jobs at the factory in Born, Limburg. Approximately 450 jobs will remain, according to VDL in its request for advice from the works council. Labor union FNV is concerned about production employees who will be dismissed, saying that it is important they end up in a good position.

Prior to Thursday’s announcement, VDL previously said there would not be enough work at VDL Nedcar, and that a thousand temporary workers and five hundred permanent employees would be let go. The new layoffs are on top of that.

BMW announced in 2020 that it would stop using VDL Nedcar as a production partner for its Mini models and for the BMW X1. That collaboration will definitively end next March.

A social plan is available for employees who will lose their jobs, with financial arrangements and assistance in finding other work. All employees will also receive a bonus of 7,500 euros per person if VDL Nedcar meets its production agreements with BMW.

VDL Nedcar is still hoping to attract a new car manufacturer as a customer. VDL is therefore keeping approximately 450 employees from the car factory. They will remain employed in order to have sufficient knowledge and skills in-house to be able to quickly ramp up automotive production again.

“As of March 1, 2024, VDL Nedcar will therefore maintain more jobs than are necessary to keep the factory on standby. An investment based on the confidence that a new collaboration will be established,” the company wrote.

Last summer, VDL Nedcar signed a letter of intent with a car manufacturer for the production of passenger cars. The manufacturer has not yet been revealed publicly. But that job, good for a maximum of 3,000 jobs, will only start in mid-2026.

VDL emphasized that the 450 remaining jobs are separate from positions at its new Mobility Innovation Center in Born. The industrial group expects this will create several hundred new jobs. Here, VDL is conducting research into, among other things, a new generation of self-driving vans for the German company, Schaeffler. VDL also announced that it will assemble battery systems for BMW in this facility.

Trade union FNV is concerned about the careers of those production employees who will be let go. “We are not concerned about technical professionals, but we are concerned about the people who were on the production line,” said a spokesperson. “They need support to end up in a good place.”

The province of Limburg said it is participating in a project to help Nedcar employees find new work. Limburg previously decided not to invest in infrastructure improvements around the factory site, in part because Nedcar could not provide guarantees about employment.

Should VDL Nedcar attract a new automotive manufacturer as a customer, they can again ask the province for assistance, a provincial spokesperson said. The province of Limburg emphasized that it has no influence on the course of events at Nedcar.

Jeroen Bruinsma, from labor union CNV, sees a bleak future for Nedcar. Speaking about the announced 2,000 new layoffs, he said, “This is darker than previously thought. VDL has not succeeded in attracting new clients.” He added that “seeing is believing” when it comes to the company’s claims that something is in the works. “If something doesn’t happen quickly, there will soon only be a few people left to maintain machines, and the greenery outside, and security guards.”