We’ve all been there. You wake up one weekday morning, feeling fine but dreading the work day. So you decide to play hooky instead. While it might not be a big deal for you, some companies, like Volkswagen, are seemingly getting more strict about their workers skipping out on the job.
German magazine Bild recently got its hands on a “disciplinary statistics report” that Volkswagen issues internally every six months. The report, according to Bild, said VW fired 548 people across the globe for “violations of regulations” in the first half of the year. It said that 2,079 warnings were also issued to employees over that same time period.
The main reason for the firings, says Bild? People reportedly weren’t showing up to their posts. From the article, translated from German:
The most common reason for sanctions: unexcused absence. BILD learned that the core brand VW already suffered more than 300 layoffs in 2025—at the six German locations of Wolfsburg, Braunschweig, Emden, Hanover, Salzgitter, and Kassel alone! This roughly corresponds to the total number in the previous year. And it also means that the number of dismissals has risen rapidly in recent months.
I’ve reached out to a VW spokesperson to confirm these numbers, but I have yet to hear back.
The number of firings and warnings is just a tiny drop in the bucket for Volkswagen, which employs over 560,000 people globally. But the ramp-up in enforcement likely has something to do with the brand’s current financial status. The company’s profits fell 30 percent in the second quarter, with tariffs alone costing the Group $1.5 billion.
Though taking a day or two off might not sound like it could do a lot of harm, VW thinks differently, according to Bild (again, translated from German):
Absenteeism costs Volkswagen AG one billion euros annually. VW brand boss Thomas Schäfer (55) mentioned this figure at an internal event last year.
The fact that the company publishes internal statistics on warnings and terminations is a consequence of the diesel scandal. The message this should send is that misconduct will not be tolerated.
Bild, citing more internal, unnamed sources, expects hundreds more to be fired over absenteeism at VW before the year comes to an end. If you’re a VW plant employee reading this, I highly recommend not skipping out on the day, at least until the new year comes. I know it can be hard to wake up early and get ready for a grueling, physical eight hours, but repeated absences will make you an easy target.
Those few hundred won’t be the only people to lose their jobs. Back in December, union leaders and VW execs spent 70 hours negotiating to avoid plant closures. While the union was successful in stopping shutdowns, it couldn’t avoid the company implementing 35,000 job cuts by 2030. So even if you have perfect attendance, your position could be on the chopping block.
Top graphic image: Volkswagen
Hat tip to Carscoops!
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I was responsible for scheduling staff for a TV newsroom at two different stations among a lot of other things as a news operations manager in parts of the first half of my career. (My time as a news photographer was a lot more interesting.)
The worst thing was when someone called in sick on a weekend day, because we were skeleton-staffed on those two days. It meant having to call around and try to find someone willing to pick up the shift. Some people were eager for the overtime, and I had to weigh their hourly rate against their willingness to do it. Usually, it was the newer employees, lower on the union scale, that wanted them. So, the calculus normally wasn’t hard.
But nobody ever ghosted us and just didn’t show up. They called me (sometimes at 5 am) and told me why they couldn’t make it. Usually, it was because they were sick. But sometimes it was something bad happened to a family member or other loved one.
Actually, (and this is a repressed memory that just resurfaced after more than 30 years) one day, a photographer didn’t show up. Because he had shot himself. Intentionally. He had called a colleague the night before, despondent. In the morning the colleague called me to ask if he had showed up to work (because the colleague was working a swing shift that week). I said not yet. The colleague called the police to do a welfare check, and they found our guy dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
That was the worst. RIP and may God rest your soul, Steve.
PSA: Suicide Hotline, dial 988.
I’m a little surprised the union is allowing that but they are a decent union and have sense unlike a certain union in the US that would try to protect those who don’t work and end up tanking a company and everyone else. I get the concept to protect the guy that makes everyone look good by generally being useless but at a certain point you have to say enough is enough.