Do EVs really mean a jobs’ bloodbath?

Reports of tens or even hundreds of thousands of jobs being lost as automotive manufacturing transitions to electric vehicles (EVs) appear regularly in the press. In February, a report from Hanover University of Applied Sciences said that supplier jobs in Germany could fall from the current 270,000 to 200,000 by 2030, employment in the sector having been at 310,000 in 2019. This report followed news that Bosch, Continental, ZF and Forvia would be cutting thousands of jobs; some losses were due to falling demand, but most of the predicted or anticipated losses are being attributed to the transition to EVs. At the same time, the VDA admitted that the job losses between 2019 and today have been because of declining vehicle production in Germany, where Ford, Opel and Volkswagen have seen significant falls in production. Demand is a major impact on employment in manufacturing.