VW workers fear for their jobs

The day in Wolfsburg started ominous. Dark, fast-moving grey clouds spread over the Volkswagen headquarters along the Aller River.

The dark clouds were oddly appropriate, at a time where the iconic German car company finds itself rocked by an air pollution scandal.

Barely two kilometers away from the plant along the river, CEO Martin Winterkorn spent the better part of a day in another Volkswagen building behind the so-called Sandkamp Gate, facing down the executive committee of the supervisory board. He had to explain to them, how 11 million cars came to be outfitted with software that helped hide true emission values from inspectors.

Later in the afternoon, the clouds cleared, and Winterkorn announced his resignation. In his statement, he said that his resignation would pave "the way for a fresh start."

A fresh start into an uncertain future

But many working for Volkswagen - whether within the company, or for one of the company's many suppliers - are not certain there will be a fresh start. Far from providing closure, Winterkorn's resignation has only prolonged the uncertainty reigning in Wolfsburg.

Near a popular watering hole for Volkswagen employees between the Sandkamp Gate and the Volkswagen facilities along the river, workers were letting the news of Winterkorn's resignation sink in.

"I think this means Piëch won," said one worker. "He doesn't like to lose, he wanted Winterkorn out, now he's out. But Winterkorn was a good leader. I bet Piëch knew about this, and Winterkorn didn't."

Victory for Piech?

He's referring to the power struggle behind the former board chairman - and for a long time, the face of the Volkswagen Group - Ferdinand Piëch, and Martin Winterkorn. Piëch had tried to push out Winterkorn in the spring, but ended up resigning himself in April.

Conspiracy theories like these are likely to abound in the next days. Piëch had blamed Winterkorn for a sagging North American market, and the scandal first surfaced in the US market, which Winterkorn had declared his personal priority as CEO.

The timing is not lost on the workers, but few would commit their names to the theory. In fact, few of those who talked to DW wanted to be identified by their full names, or at all. They're worried that they're faced with an especially precarious time ahead - a time of a damaged Volkswagen brand, of falling sales, and of job cuts. Many workers think it unwise to open themselves up to anything else that would put them on a shaky footing with their employers – like talking to the press.

"It's all anyone can talk about," said VW plant operator Stephan, who did not want his last name published. "We're afraid that VW's sales will crash and that will end up costing us our jobs. Nobody knew about this, but we're all going to be affected."

Frank Wegener, who said he worked on the VW Touran's assembly, said he felt similarly powerless - but was trying not to worry too much about it.

"There were decisions made at the very top, I had no influence over any of this," he said. “We have to wait out how this will play in the next days. Besides, if anyone has to go, it will probably be the part-time workers first."

Wolfsburg is Volkswagen, Volkswagen is Wolfsburg

But the fate of Volkswagen doesn't only affect the 70,000 direct employees, who work in Wolfsburg. Many are employed by external service providers who depend on business from Volkswagen. And some of them think they'll be the first to go.

"One has to understand that Wolfsburg is Volkswagen. If Volkswagen isn't doing well, then Wolfsburg isn't doing well," said Ingo, who works with one such service provider. He withheld both his last name and company name. "We're expecting to be let go, and we're not going to find anything else to do in Wolfsburg."

In the morning, Wolfsburg will wake up to a Volkswagen without Winterkorn and decide for themselves what that could mean for the future. As of yet, a successor has not been named. Porsche CEO Matthias Müller has been rumored a likely candidate. But to many employees working with and for Volkswagen, the main question isn't whether Müller will be getting a new job - the question is whether they can keep their own.