On May 26, Volvo Cars of Sweden announced that it would lay off 3,000 employees, accounting for 7% of the global workforce, centered on office positions. In addition to the increased costs caused by the tariff policy of US President Trump, the sluggish sales of pure electric vehicles (EVs) have led Volvo to believe that large-scale layoffs are inevitable.
The layoffs include 1,200 employees working in the Swedish office, 1,000 employees hired as consultants, and employees in other regions, totaling 3,000 people. The layoffs will be promoted on the basis of adjusting the organizational system before the fall of 2025.
In late April, Volvo announced a restructuring plan to cut costs by 18 billion kronor through measures such as layoffs and reduced investment, but did not announce the number of layoffs.
It is expected that the layoffs will accrue additional costs of up to 1.5 billion kronor.
Compared with its competitors, Volvo’s new car sales have a higher proportion of pure electric vehicles, and the company’s operations have been hit hard, with operating profits of 1.9 billion kronor in the financial report from January to March 2025, a year-on-year decrease of 60%. Due to the uncertainty of Trump’s tariffs, the company withdrew its performance forecast for the 2025 fiscal year (ending December 2025).