Luxury car maker Bentley to cut jobs and pay
NORTH WEST luxury car maker Bentley has announced another round of job losses and revealed a 10% pay cut for all staff.
The Crewe-based company, owned by German auto giant Volkswagen, is reducing its workforce of around 3,800 by 220 in the latest round of cut-backs.
A spokeswoman for the brand, popular among celebrities and showbiz stars, said Bentley hoped to make the job cuts through voluntary redundancies but would not rule out compulsory action if necessary.
At the end of last year, 230 workers took voluntary redundancy.
Staff pay for all employees, including chief executive Dr Franz-Josef Paefgen, will be reduced by 10% from April 1 to December 31.
The spokeswoman said: “We will be reopening the voluntary redundancy scheme. We can’t rule out the fact that if there is a shortfall, there may have to be compulsory redundancies but we’re hopeful that won’t be the case.
“Bentley, along with other motoring manufacturers, has been hit by the global economic slowdown.
“We’ve taken a number of stands since September last year as a result. With the situation likely to remain like it is throughout 2009 we thought it sensible to reduce our outgoings and head count.”
