BMW halts voluntary severance scheme early as thousands apply

BMW introduced a voluntary termination program for administrative and development staff in Germany at the start of October, promising payouts often reaching six figures. The announcement generated massive interest, temporarily straining internal IT systems. After only three weeks, the response exceeded expectations, with thousands of employees submitting requests, prompting BMW to end the scheme ahead of schedule.

The firm plans to finalize all agreements by mid-November and will decide case-by-case which resignations are accepted. Production workers were excluded from the offer, meaning the impact is concentrated among office personnel, especially in Munich. The program was originally intended to reduce roughly 5,000 positions, though no specific target number was disclosed.