Germany: ‘Auto Summit’ to prepare support and tools aimed at training and maintaining employment

On 15 January the Federal Chancellery hosted a summit meeting that focused on safeguarding employment in Germany’s auto industry. All the relevant actors in the sector attended the meeting and although no statement was issued when it concluded, the intention had been to be a preparatory session ahead of the implementation of a number of measures including some already being discussed and other totally new ideas, all of which aim to facilitate both the sector’s transition towards electric vehicle production and reskill thousands of workers. Among the measures being put forward are extending  the length of partial unemployment, lowering employers’ social charges for partial unemployment situations, providing greater training opportunities that until now had been subsidized as part of the digital economy framework, and creating a new corporation status called the ‘Transformation Company’.