Salaries, A6 and other unknowns

No one complains about the hundreds of millions in bonuses for the entire VW workforce, despite the emissions scandal that will cost 20-40 billion euros. But a handful of managers are supposed to pay back their bonuses retroactively ... yeah right. They could talk to the assembly line worker to see if he’ll pay back his last three Christmas bonuses, then that would probably cause a big fuss.

and what can the assembly line worker do about the cheating software on the control unit? nothing

and what can the assembly line worker do about the cheat software on the control unit? nothing

The assembly line worker doesn’t sell cars either and still participates in the corporate profits.
But nobody wants to be involved in the losses. Strange.
Although, the managers are good enough for that, because they receive no bonuses, reduced bonuses, are supposed to pay back bonuses (for moral reasons), or better yet just resign.

Of course, the assembly line worker is not responsible for the emissions scandal. The corporation, the company, definitely is. And he belongs to that one. Hanging together, caught together. For better or for worse.

I consider the situation absolutely absurd, to burden a company plunged into crisis (market value almost halved!) with (almost) one billion euros of voluntary (!!) bonuses, as if nothing had happened, although it is just about to suffer a double heart attack. Such madness.

I can agree with your argument up to the point if the situation had arisen through no fault of one's own. However, here there was cheating and lying, and for me it is clear that the little guy is not to blame.

The bank also fulfills its employment contracts with its managers. These contracts will specify under which criteria bonuses are paid. If these criteria are met, payment is made.

What does that have to do with the group's balance sheet in relation to the bonuses paid?

Perhaps the losses would have been much higher if the rewarded managers had performed worse? Do you know that? I don’t.

What kind of argument/thinking is that?

Nobody complains about the hundreds of millions in bonuses for the entire VW workforce, despite the emissions scandal that will cost 20-40 billion euros. But a handful of managers are supposed to pay their bonuses back retroactively ... yeah, right. They could try talking to the assembly line worker about returning his last three Christmas bonuses, then the fuss would probably be huge.

There is a huge difference between an assembly line worker receiving a small extra amount, with which he might be able to treat himself to something nice, and a manager who is set for life, actively driving the company deep into the red, and still stuffing his pockets even more.

At Deutsche Bank there was an inside bank robbery (by the investment bankers in London ...); this is actually clear to everyone and is sufficiently documented and described (recently, for example, in [Spiegel]). Whether there were actually any legal violations involved and whether this can still be sanctioned today is a completely different question.

No one said managers do nothing.

or whether a manager who is set for life actively drives the company deep into the red while stuffing his pockets even more.

No offense, but I will not respond to the rest of your answer. It’s pointless.