The European auto industry, which heavily relies on temporary workers, is losing ground as the European debt crisis continues to haunt the sector and thousands of temporary staff are expected to lose their jobs.

This comes after German manufacturer Audi last week told Staffing Industry Analysts it was going to cut hundreds of temporary jobs at one of its bases in South-Western Germany alone.

Bloomberg writes that big carmakers including PSA Peugeot Citroen and Fiat SpA are struggling to make ends meet in Europe, as lower sales in the industry could lead to half a million of people losing their jobs. Temporary workers are “easy to fire”, the paper writes and are likely to be the ones worst affected.

The auto industry employs around 7 million employees, 1.5 million of which are temporary staff. It is a sector that has increasingly made use of temporary workers in recent years. 

“It’s becoming increasingly apparent with the declines in vehicle sales in the region that production and staffing levels at certain manufacturers are just well beyond where they need to be,” said Ian Fletcher, an analyst at IHS Automotive in London, to the news agency.

Fiat has already announced that it will cut temporary jobs in Italy and one of Europe’s largest carmakers, Peugot, will cut 14,000 jobs at one plant in France while 650 temporary workers will lose their jobs at the company’s French Sochaux base.

Lars Holmqvist, senior adviser on the automobile industry at consulting firm Kreab Gavin Anderson told the news agency that 500,000 supplier jobs will be cut in Europe by the end of next year.