Troubled German carmaker Opel, under pressure from US parent General Motors to drive back to profit, said yesterday it will slash working hours as European demand for cars hits the skids.

“In consultation with the works council and the IG Metall labour union, Adam Opel AG will introduce short-time work at its plants in Ruesselsheim and Kaiserslautern from September,” Opel said in a statement, adding that 20 working days would be cut between then and the end of the year.

“The European car market is dropping dramatically,” complained Opel, which is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year.

Personnel chief Holger Kimmes said previous measures such as flexitime could no longer compensate for the drop in capacity utilisation and “short-time work is the right way to bridge this weakness in the market”.

Under short-time work schemes, employees see their working hours reduced for a limited period, but the state, in the form of the Federal Labour Agency, partially makes up for the corresponding shortfall in pay.

The measure was used widely by German companies, including Opel, during the crisis of 2008-2009, helped avoid widespread layoffs and allowed companies to ramp their operations up again quickly when demand recovered.

Out of a total 22,100 people who work at Opel’s four production plants in Germany – Ruesselsheim, Kaiserslautern, Bochum and Eisenach – around 9,300, or just under half, will be affected, Opel announced.

General works council chief Wolfgang Schaefer-Klug said the measure would “secure jobs” and help limit financial hardship for employees. It would affect both workers on the production lines, as well as those in administration. By contrast, employees in the engineering activities would not be hit.

Ruesselsheim employs a workforce of 13,800, with 3,500 in production, 3,300 in administration and a further 7,000 in engineering, while the Kaiserslautern plant, which makes components, employs a workforce of 2,500.