The global economic crisis was the focal point of this year’s meeting of Bosch works council representatives and the second global meeting of employee representatives. At the meeting of works council representatives in Bad Kissingen in April 2009, 206 delegates from 30 German locations held discussions with the board of management on the issues of training, offering permanent employment to apprentices, demographic trends in the workforce, the increasing internationalization of the Bosch Group, and the Code of Business Conduct. The main focus of attention, however, was on the impact of the global economic crisis for the Bosch Group and its associates.
Alfred Löckle, chairman of the central works council, stressed in his opening address that employee representatives are pursuing a clear goal. “We are aiming to get through the crisis with the workforce intact, no matter how long it lasts,” he stated. Löckle was confident that this goal could be achieved in Germany thanks to the flexible tools for reducing working hours and the willingness of associates to accept lower incomes. He added that future-focused products, the company’s innovative strength, the effectiveness of research and development activities, the good financial structure, and the corporate constitution’s focus on sustainability provided an excellent basis for success. Löckle praised the culture of open dialog between company management and employee representatives and called on the board of management to maintain this dialog and its policy of safeguarding jobs, warning that otherwise the workforce’s willingness to make sacrifices could very quickly vanish.
Franz Fehrenbach, chairman of the board of management, thanked the works councils for their efforts in working with company management to find “sustainable solutions that are acceptable to associates and the company, especially in these difficult times.” He made it clear that the current economic crisis would last for some time and a huge effort would be required to get through it. He stressed that it was also important to focus on any opportunities that arose and to make the most of these.
Wolfgang Malchow, member of the board of management responsible for human resources, had already taken the opportunity at the second global meeting of 47 employee representatives from 26 countries in March 2009 to underline that Bosch intended to stick to its goal of getting through the crisis with its permanent workforce intact for as long as possible. However, he indicated that, in countries where there were no flexible tools for reducing working hours, the company would have no choice but to lay off some associates. In Bad Kissingen, Malchow reiterated that the current personnel costs would quickly have to be adapted to the much lower level of sales but stressed that it was necessary to keep the future in mind when cutting costs. He said that the current phase should be used for training, stating “We will therefore continue investing in the skills and performance of our associates to prepare for future growth.”
