"Socially Acceptable" Layoffs: What's Behind the Cuts at Volkswagen.

The German car manufacturer Volkswagen has announced plans to lay off another 12,000 workers by 2030. The news is presented under the guise of "concern" - they promise to make the layoffs voluntary and socially acceptable, using special transfer companies for professional retraining. But if we remove the organizational retouching, we are faced with a pure economic calculation.

Here's how that logic works:

Maximizing profits by reducing costs. In the context of the global crisis in the automobile industry and the fierce competition with the Chinese manufacturers, the European giant is trying to save its profit margin. The fastest way to reduce production costs in a capitalist system is to reduce the cost of human labor, that is, to cut staff and automate processes.

Transferring costs to the shoulders of the state. The idea of using "transfer companies", where part of the wages of the laid-off will be paid by the German Federal Labor Agency, is a classic maneuver of big business. The concern separates profits, but partially transfers the social consequences of its structural problems (unemployment) to the state treasury, i.e. to the taxpayers.

"Volunteering" as a way to avoid protests. The emphasis on "social parallelism" and talk of voluntary transition is not charity, but an attempt by big business to appease the powerful German trade unions. Volkswagen is pragmatically delaying potential strikes and social disruptions at an early stage, so as not to suffer huge losses from the plant shutdown.

Bottom line: statements about "care and conversion" are just a cover for a large-scale capital restructuring. Big business solves its economic problems with a proven method: by streamlining jobs and attracting government subsidies to mitigate the consequences.