Premium carmaker BMW is to offer almost half its German staff voluntary redundancy in a bid to cut 8,000 jobs by the end of 2027, a company source told AFP Wednesday. "The workforce will ultimately be reduced by around 8,000 people by the end of 2027," the source said. BMW employs about 154,000 people worldwide and the offer would be open to German employees in desk-based roles, the source said. The plan had taken about six weeks to negotiate between the board and BMW's works council, the source added. Suffering from slimmer margins on electric cars, US tariffs and above all intense Chinese competition, German carmakers have sought to cut overheads.