The DAX group is already offering severance payments in two areas. A Handelsblatt research shows: Volunteer programs are also running in factories. Example calculations show the details.
Mercedes has been offering annual volunteer programs with high severance payments at the production plants in Stuttgart-Untertürkheim and Berlin for several years, most recently from September to November of this year.
The “Next Level Performance” savings program is intended to reduce employees and material costs, with the production of combustion engine components decreasing and e-mobility increasing.
Severance payments for 50-year-old employees range up to 330,000 euros, with a turbo program providing additional bonuses and early retirement options.
A new severance program for the administration will start in December with non-binding offers for around 38,000 employees; So far, over 5,500 employees in the indirect sector have used the program.
Stuttgart. Mercedes-Benz is also reducing staff in parts of production with the help of its severance pay programs. Entries from the intranet that Handelsblatt was able to view show: Volunteer programs have been running at the component plants in Stuttgart-Untertürkheim and Berlin since the beginning of September, initially until November.
It is known that the car manufacturer wants to cut staff in the indirect area, i.e. outside of production. From December, employees in administration and development will again receive severance offers. Mercedes has reactivated its volunteer program, which ran between April 2025 and March 2026.
However, not everyone in the group is aware that Mercedes has been reducing staff at the main plant in Untertürkheim and in Berlin for years through severance pay programs. Employees sometimes receive six-figure sums.
A volunteer program has been running in Untertürkheim every autumn since 2019. It was introduced at the Berlin plant in 2022. At both locations, severance payments should always be made in autumn until the end of 2029.
Mercedes wants to reduce its personnel costs with this. A savings program called “Next Level Performance” has been running since 2025 to reduce expenses in production, materials and personnel. Since this summer, Mercedes has tightened its austerity measures in Germany; the company calls it a “productivity offensive”.
The Swabians are suffering from poor business in China, US tariffs, but also the consequences of management errors. Sales and profits have been declining for years. Because there is job security in Germany until the end of 2034, the DAX group must present attractive offers so that employees can voluntarily terminate their contracts.
When asked, a company spokeswoman said: "There is no comprehensive severance program for employees in production. Individual areas that are particularly affected by the transformation towards electromobility, such as the powertrain area, are excluded." In drive production, the company began early on to make the structural change socially acceptable.
In Untertürkheim, Mercedes produces engines, axles and transmissions along the Neckar. Transmission components are also built in Berlin. The transmission parts are primarily used in combustion vehicles.
Even if Mercedes, contrary to what was planned a few years ago, wants to offer combustion engines well into the 2030s, the DAX group will increasingly sell electric cars. In 2028/29, electric cars and hybrids are expected to account for 40 percent of sales; in the third quarter it was 25 percent. And this requires fewer classic drive components.
Battery systems for electric models have also been manufactured in Untertürkheim since 2021. And since this summer, new axial flux motors have also been introduced in Berlin, which are used in the new electric models from the sports car subsidiary AMG. But this works with fewer workers.
“The depth of production and the production volume of conventional drive systems will gradually decrease in the coming years,” writes Mercedes on the intranet. “There are already signs of excess personnel in some functions.”
Untertürkheim is particularly dependent on combustion engines. In 2025, 12,500 employees were still working here - 3,500 or 22 percent fewer than in 2021. In Berlin, the number of employees fell by 100 to 1,800 between 2024 and 2025.
The vast majority are said to have left at both locations not through the severance pay program, but rather due to age. The post-war baby boomers, the baby boomers, are currently retiring. In the next ten years alone, 20 percent of the Mercedes workforce will retire due to age.
Mercedes pays its employees in Untertürkheim and Berlin high severance payments, as the Handelsblatt was able to see on the intranet. The amounts and the procedure are based on the conditions of the indirect area. There are also insights into the company's basic severance payment system.
Employees up to the age of 56 receive a severance payment agreement. For employees between 40 and 56 years of age, age is decisive. An example: A 50-year-old receives a basic amount of 22,500 euros. An additional amount of 40 gross monthly salaries is added.
Because the current severance pay programs in Untertürkheim and Berlin are considered a “turbo program,” there is an additional surcharge for the quick exit. This amounts to ten percent of the sum of the basic and additional contributions, but at least 17,500 euros. The turbo bonus also includes six monthly salaries.
In Berlin the turbo bonus will be paid for the last time this year. The employees in Untertürkheim receive a flat rate of 10,000 euros more - to compensate for the fact that there is no advice on career prospects here. Otherwise, the same conditions apply at both locations.
For a 50-year-old employee with vocational training, the severance payment in Untertürkheim is around 224,000 euros. A skilled worker with specialized knowledge with a basic monthly salary of 3,703 euros (pay group 7) receives a severance payment of 248,000 euros.
Shift managers and production group leaders who are classified as foremen in salary group 12 and thus with a basic salary of 5,129 euros would receive around 330,000 euros at the age of 50.
The amount can be even higher if the employee chooses not to take paid leave. In this case you will receive an additional 7.5 months' salary.
For employees up to 39 years of age, length of service is used to calculate the severance payment. An example: For twelve years at Mercedes there is a base amount of 17,500 euros plus 18 monthly salaries plus the ten percent turbo bonus (at least 17,500 euros).
Employees aged 57 and over receive an offer of early retirement. The calculation: 65 percent of the monthly salary is multiplied by the number of months until the 63rd birthday. A base amount is added to this: Here the number of months until the exit is multiplied by 20,000 euros and then divided by 72.
The offer of an orientation period is aimed at all employees. This allows employees outside the group to look for other jobs for a limited period of two or three years. Mercedes compensates this with 20,000 euros for two and 30,000 euros for three years. The employees have a guarantee that they will be rehired.
All severance pay offers are doubly voluntary. This means: If employees don't want to leave, they don't have to. To do this, the group can also reject requests from employees in order to retain skilled workers in key positions.
Mercedes wants to save money in the long term through the severance pay offers, but initially they cost money: in 2025, Mercedes paid 1.6 billion euros for severance payments. According to management, the expenses should be paid off after two years.
The new severance program for indirect employees is scheduled to start in December. The company has not yet announced the exact duration. The current conditions should continue to apply, and a turbo period is also being considered. The program is again aimed at team leaders and foremen (internally called E4 and E5) as well as department heads (E3). Unlike before, department heads (E2) should also receive an offer.
