Longer hours for employees among Mercedes cost-cutting measures

June 26 (Reuters) - German carmaker Mercedes Benz wants its employees to work longer hours for the same salary, among other measures aimed to cut costs across the company, it said in a note to employees on Friday.

• "The cost per hour must decrease – in development, sales, administration, and production ... we should work more for the same pay in all areas," CEO Olaf Kallenius and others wrote in a note to employees

• A special payment amounting to 18.4% of one month's salary, originally scheduled for July, is to be postponed until 2027, Mercedes said

• Some products and administrative functions are to be relocated abroad, the company said

• Mercedes' works council said that although the company's challenges do not lie with the employees, it is the employees who are expected to bear the burden

• The Middle East conflict has driven up global industry costs, compounding pressure on European automakers already hit by high U.S. import tariffs

• Mercedes' stock is down by more than a quarter year-to-date, underperforming the wider pan-European STOXX 600's subindex for carmarkers and car parts manufacturers

(Reporting by Tristan Veyet in Gdansk, ALexander Huebner in Munich, editing by Friederike Heine)