BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel's office is looking into whether 6,000 temporary workers at Volkswagen (DE:VOWG_p) could be moved onto the government's "Kurzarbeit" short-time work program, daily Bild reported on Saturday, citing unnamed government sources.
The scheme allows companies to preserve jobs by reducing employees' hours when plant usage is low, with the government compensating workers for part of their lost wages.
The Federal Labour Office has ruled out the idea, already floated by Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel, of including temporary workers in the plan, from which they would normally be excluded. But Berlin wants to be prepared for cost cuts at Volkswagen.
A government spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment.
Reeling from the scandal over its rigging of diesel emissions, Volkswagen said on Tuesday it will cut investment plans at its biggest division by 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) a year.
Some analysts have said the scandal could cost Volkswagen as much as 35 billion euros ($40 billion) to cover vehicle refits, regulatory fines and lawsuits.