Volkswagen employees in Russia’s Nizhny offered six months salary to quit

Employees of the Volkswagen plant in Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod were offered to quit in exchange of huge pay-offs which in some cases would amount to six months' salary, Kommersant cites a letter from the labour unions to Gerrit Spengler, the Volkswagen Group Rus HR chief.

The employees who agreed to the company's offer before 17 June would receive six months' salary, those voluntarily quitting before 29 June would have their 5 months' wages. Volkswagen Group Rus confirms this and notes that not just payoffs, but also health coverage and “personal IT equipment” were offered to the employees.

Approximately 200 people are employed at the Nizhny Novgorod Volkswagen plant, labour unions say. There is, however, no “mass layoff” at the plant, the company says.

The Volkswagen plant in Nizhny Novgorod is located at the GAZ production site. Although the company announced suspending manufacture in Russia on 3 May, there was no announcement regarding the agreement with GAZ whatsoever.

The United States sanctions against Oleg Deripaska, owner of the GAZ group, came into force on 25 May.