Berlin – DaimlerChrysler AG said Tuesday it would cut administrative staff by 20 percent worldwide over three years, dropping 6,000 jobs to save about $1.2 billion a year and make the automaker leaner and more profitable.
Chief executive Dieter Zet sche said the streamlining would boost growth and profits by removing layers of management and improving cooperation between its divisions, especially Mercedes and Chrysler. About 60 percent of the jobs to be cut would be in Germany, he said.
“Our objective in taking these actions is to create a lean, agile structure, with streamlined and stable processes that will unleash DaimlerChrysler’s full potential,” Zetsche said in a statement. “We’re going to build on a strong product portfolio.”
The cuts would amount to 30 percent at the management level and would cover areas such as accounting, auditing, personnel and strategic planning. The downsizing will cost the company about $2.4 billion in restructuring costs from 2006 to the end of 2008.
DaimlerChrysler shares gained more than 5 percent to 44.67 euros ($54.68) in Frankfurt trading. Its U.S. shares rose $2.60, or almost 5 percent, to close at $54.84 on the New York Stock Exchange.
The plan envisions elimination of administrative jobs that duplicate work at the corporate and production levels, the company said. Underlining its emphasis on a sharper focus on manufacturing functions, top management will leave the landmark office tower in the Moeh ringen district of Stuttgart and move to offices at the production facilities in the city’s Untertuerkheim district to be physically closer to the assembly line.
The company’s other headquarters will remain in Auburn Hills, Mich.
The DaimlerChrysler announcement came a day after Ford Motor Co., the second- biggest U.S. automaker, said it was cutting up to 34,000 jobs and closing 14 facilities by 2012.
Ford had previously indicated it would cut about 4,000 salaried positions by the end of the quarter.
