BMW to cut 8000 jobs

BMW has announced that it will cut 8000 jobs over the next year.The cuts are a result of a long-term plan to save £4.5 billion (€6 billion) in costs by 2012. More could be on the way, too, if the Euro follows its recent trend and continues to strengthen.UK staff will be relieved to know they aren’t part of the current plans, with the bulk of the cuts coming in Germany; 2,500 permanent and 5,000 temporary posts are going. An extra 600 redundancies will take place across BMW’s global subsidiaries.A spokeswoman for BMW said "the cuts should make a saving of £381 million (€500 million) per annum from 2009 onwards. It’s too early to tell what the global impacts will be, but for now the UK won't be affected."The company is also introducing more temporary posts as well as more flexible working hours, meaning they can increase employment in busier times without committing to staff during low production periods.The German brand is aiming to improve its productivity per worker in order to hit the money-saving targets.BMW’s annual profits will be announced on March 18. Last years pre-tax figure was £3.14 billion (€4.12 billion), a three per cent rise on the previous 12 months.