Increasing cost pressure and poor prospects in the autonomous driving business are leading to job cuts at automotive supplier Bosch.

In the "Cross-Domain Computing Solution" division, which develops all digital applications for vehicles, around 1,200 jobs worldwide are to be cut by 2026, the company announced on Thursday. Around 950 of these are in Germany at the Abstatt, Hildesheim, Leonberg, Renningen and Schwieberdingen sites. The "Handelsblatt" was the first to report on this. The division is facing significantly greater challenges than expected. "In this situation, we - like other companies - have to maintain the difficult balance between investment and cost discipline." For example, the autonomous driving business is not taking off as quickly as hoped.

A total of around 20,000 people work in the software unit, which was founded four years ago to bundle all automotive digital products. The company wants to cut jobs not only for developers, but also in sales and administration. Talks are to be held with the works council. It is therefore not yet clear how many associates will ultimately have to leave. Only last year, Bosch concluded an agreement with the works council for the Mobility Solutions automotive supplier division that rules out redundancies until the end of 2027. It goes without saying that this will remain the case, Bosch continued. The aim is therefore to reduce jobs in a socially responsible manner.

In December, Bosch announced that it would be cutting up to 1,500 jobs in its powertrain division due to falling demand for combustion engines. Against the backdrop of the weak automotive market and the transition to electromobility, the other major German suppliers are also experiencing unease in terms of employment. At ZF Friedrichshafen, the works council sounded the alarm this week because around 12,000 jobs could disappear in Germany by 2030. The company did not confirm this. At Continental, a mid-four-figure number of jobs in the struggling automotive division are to be lost.

(Report by Nette Nöstlinger and Ilona Wissenbach, edited by Ralf Banser. If you have any queries, please contact the editorial team at frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com)