Volkswagen AG has begun to trim corporate jobs in China as it works to reduce overhead by a target of 20% globally over the next three years.

While Volkswagen is staying tight-lipped on specifics, Manager Magazin suggested research and development could take a massive hit. If their numbers pan out, roughly 4,000 to 6,000 R&D employees could be cut from the current number of around 13,000.

CEO Oliver Blume told employees that the company needed to end a three-decade-old job protection pledge that would have banned layoffs until 2029. View on euronews

VW is considering axing as many as 30,000 jobs as it scrambles to save billions of euros amid a slowdown in the car market, German media has reported. The carmaker recently announced it could close some of its German factories for the first time in history as it struggles to reinvent itself for the electric era.