German Bosch Says Weak Economy Forced Auto Part Supplier to Shorten Working Hours

German largest auto part supplier Bosch said that due to decreasing orders, the working hours for 1,800 employees must be shortened. According to an insider from the Reuters, some department of Bosch even formulated new working agreements to manage weekly crises. 1.5% of all employees are estimated to be affected. The current measure of reducing working hours is enough to cope with the issue.

Departments affected include industrial technology, energy, and building technology. The Group expects that the situation will become better before the advent of holidays. Bosch does not have comments on which department or location the measure will be implemented. In spring, the Bosch foundation reported that the turnover grew 3% up. The number of total employees in the group by 2012 is 306 thousand and the turnover was EUR 52.5 billion, up 2% over the same period of 2011. However, the current performance is still under the expected long-term growth of 8%.