Greening is very expensive. That’s the essence of Daimler’s move to cut jobs

When companies promise to be greener, I often wonder how they’re going to pay for it. Well, now we know.

By saving money through cutting jobs .

News that Daimler, which owns Mercedes-Benz, will cut thousands of jobs worldwide was filtered through a green lens. In order to pay the enormous costs of investing in electric vehicles, Daimler will axe at least a thousand administrative staff. The company had already announced that a tenth of managers would be axed.

Even though Daimler has promised to reduce its headcount in a “socially responsible manner”, and use “natural fluctuation to cut jobs that become vacant”, downsizing is downsizing. It will coax and/or cajole by means of voluntary redundancy packages or reducing weekly working hours.

It’s a sign of the seriousness with which the German car industry is managing the disruption underway, as the internal combustion engines is ousted by battery electric vehicles. Battery electric cars are crucial to meet EU regulations coming into force in January.