3:50 pm, May 20, 2019
CAR giant Ford is cutting about 7,000 white-collar jobs – about 10 per cent of its global workforce – it announced today.
The company is undertaking a major restructuring, including shedding jobs in Europe as part of a shake-up that it announced in January, and today said that it will have trimmed thousands of jobs by August. Most of Ford’s white-collar staff are in and around the company’s headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan.
The manufacturer said the plan would save about $600m (circa £471.4m) per year by eliminating bureaucracy and increasing the number of workers reporting to each manager.
In the US, about 2,300 jobs will be cut through buy-outs and lay-offs. About 1,500 have already happened, while around 500 workers will go this week.
In a memo to employees today, which was placed in the public domain, chief executive Jim Hackett said the fourth wave of the restructuring would start tomorrow, with the majority of cuts being finished by Friday.
‘To succeed in our competitive industry, and position Ford to win in a fast-charging future, we must reduce bureaucracy, empower managers, speed decision-making and focus on the most valuable work, and cost cuts,’ he wrote.
In the US, about 1,500 white-collar employees left the company voluntarily since the restructuring began last year, some taking buy-outs. About 300 have been laid off already, with another 500 lay-offs starting this week.
Ford has some 12,000 staff in the UK. Car Dealer Magazine has approached the manufacturer to find out how many of them might be affected.
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