BMW HR portal crashes as 40,000 employees check voluntary exit offers

BMW encountered an IT disruption when employees accessed its newly launched voluntary severance programme, temporarily overwhelming the automaker’s internal human resources portal, according to reports by German publications Handelsblatt and Automobilwoche.

The programme opened on Thursday, allowing approximately 40,000 eligible employees to view their individual severance offers through an internal platform. BMW attributed the high usage to employee interest in reviewing the offers, a company spokesperson told Automobilwoche.

The incident comes as the German automaker pursues a broader cost-cutting initiative, including plans to eliminate around 8,000 positions in Germany by the end of 2027, excluding employees directly involved in production.

High demand disrupts the launch

BMW’s human resources department launched the voluntary redundancy programme on Thursday, giving eligible employees access to personalised offers through the company’s internal system.

A BMW spokesperson told Automobilwoche that the volume of requests rose sharply after employees received their offer notifications.

“As expected, employees were very curious to view the emails, and consequently, usage was very high after they were sent,” the spokesperson said, as quoted by Automobilwoche.

The company did not disclose further technical details about the disruption or specify how long the portal remained unavailable.

The reported incident highlights the operational demands of rolling out a large-scale employee programme through an internal digital platform. However, BMW has not attributed the disruption to a specific technical failure.

BMW targets 8,000 job cuts by 2027

The voluntary severance initiative forms part of a cost-reduction plan BMW announced in June. The company aims to reduce its workforce in Germany while reorganising parts of its management structure.

Key elements of the plan include:

• Around 8,000 positions: BMW aims to eliminate approximately 8,000 jobs in Germany by the end of 2027, excluding production employees.

• Voluntary severance: Eligible employees can review individual offers before deciding whether to leave the company.

• Management reduction: BMW plans to reduce departments and associated management positions by 20% by mid-2027.

The programme gives employees the option to consider leaving under individual offers rather than requiring every eligible worker to exit.

Cost reductions alongside vehicle investment

BMW is pursuing workforce savings while continuing to develop new vehicles and technologies, including electric models based on its Neue Klasse platform.

The company’s restructuring also extends to its vehicle portfolio. According to the report, BMW is considering discontinuing models it considers insufficiently profitable, with the 2 Series Active Tourer among those mentioned.

Rather than withdrawing such vehicles immediately, the company could allow existing models to complete their product cycles without developing successors. The report did not establish a definitive timeline for any additional discontinuations.

What happens next?

BMW’s voluntary severance programme is part of a wider effort to reduce costs and streamline its organisation by 2027. The company has not disclosed how many employees may accept the offers or how the proposed job reductions will be distributed across departments.

The immediate priority will be implementing the programme and managing employee responses as the restructuring progresses. Further details on participation, the portal disruption and the workforce impact remain unconfirmed.