New Delhi, Oct. 13 -- The planned 8,000 job cuts by German auto major BMW got off to a rocky start as the internal HR portal reportedly crashed due to a surge in traffic. According to reports, BMW's HR department launched the voluntary severance programme on Thursday, giving eligible employees access to personalised offers through the company's internal system.

Automobilwoche reported that around 40,000 eligible employees were granted access to the portal to review their personal severance offers. Employees complained that the internal portal's status checks were running slowly or going dark for stretches.

A BMW spokesperson told Automobilwoche that requests rose sharply after employees received notifications about their offers.

"As ex...