Mercedes-Benz Tightens Office Presence Rules While Chasing 800 Million Euro in German Labor Savings
Published on 09/28/2026 at 14:21 | Editorial boerse-global.de
Mercedes-Benz is moving on two fronts that both point toward a tougher stance at its German home base: management is preparing to roll back remote-work flexibility, and it is simultaneously hunting for roughly 800 million euros in labor-cost reductions. Neither initiative has been officially confirmed by the company, which has declined to comment on the internal figures and draft documents reported by WirtschaftsWoche.
Four Days in the Office, No Explanation Required
Under a draft works agreement now circulating internally, managers at Mercedes-Benz Group in Germany would be able to require employees to work on-site as many as four days a week — without having to justify the request. The existing arrangement sets no fixed weekly cap on home-office days and was built around flexible models.
The proposal still needs final approval, including from the group works council, whose representatives are said to have accepted it only reluctantly. According to insiders, the board had threatened to terminate the current works agreement outright, a step that would have eliminated mobile working at the company altogether. CEO Ola Källenius had pushed during the summer for a full five-day on-site requirement. The tightening came in stages: management began demanding more presence from executives in spring 2025, and employees in indirect functions were later asked to review their team rules.
Cost Pressure Extends Beyond Attendance Rules
Running parallel to the attendance debate is a far larger financial question. Management intends to cut German labor costs by 800 million euros, a plan that has stirred considerable unease among the workforce. Options on the table include longer working hours without extra pay, along with possible changes to — or the complete elimination of — existing special payments.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying Mercedes-Benz?
Production chief Michael Schiebe told a works meeting in Sindelfingen that preserving every German plant remains the goal, but he tied that outcome directly to cost concessions. Ahead of the talks, the company warned that without agreement on a savings package, one German assembly plant and one German powertrain plant could be shuttered.
Sindelfingen Stumble and the Ludwigsfelde Question
The labor discussions are unfolding against a backdrop of concrete operational snags. A parts shortage forced the cancellation of a shift last Friday at the Sindelfingen plant's Factory 56, where the S-Class, among other models, is built. Mercedes said production was expected to resume on schedule at the start of the week.
Separately, the company is negotiating the future of its Ludwigsfelde van plant and its roughly 1,800 employees. A potential sale to defense contractor KNDS has stalled, with the interested party making any takeover contingent on the still-pending Bundeswehr order known as "Arminius." Internally, a sale is seen as the preferred route, since production of open-body Sprinter variants is to be shifted to Poland and the existing employment guarantee expires at the end of 2029.
Analysts Trim Targets as Buyback Runs
External headwinds have added to the pressure. On September 16, Berenberg lowered its price target on Mercedes-Benz from 56 to 52 euros while keeping a "Hold" rating, citing a lack of near-term catalysts along with persistent headwinds from the Chinese market, geopolitical uncertainty and broad inflation pressure.
The company has been trying to support its share price through its own measures. After announcing the launch of a buyback at the end of August, Mercedes repurchased 1,606,805 of its own shares on the market between September 1 and September 11.
In trading, the stock has steadied after recent setbacks. The shares changed hands at 41.58 euros, a modest gain of 0.3 percent on the day, hovering just above the 52-week low of 41.05 euros touched last Friday. The stock closed Friday at 41.59 euros, leaving it down 31 percent since the start of the year.
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