Ford Motor Co. is planning to lay off a minimum of “several hundred” salaried employees, starting as soon as next week, the Detroit Free Press has learned.
The action will be limited to white-collar workers in North America, perhaps just the U.S.
At issue is not buyouts but layoffs, specifically in the areas of Ford Blue and Model e, the units that design and build internal combustion vehicles as well as develop technology for the electric vehicle operation, according to a source with knowledge of the situation who was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter. The third of three units at the company, Ford Pro commercial, is not part of this job reduction.
The automaker employs about 174,000 white- and blue-collar workers globally. Ford has about 28,000 white-collar workers in the U.S. and about 70,000 worldwide, a Ford spokesman confirmed Friday to The Free Press, a member of the USA TODAY Network.
The cuts are expected to fall well below the 3,000 jobs slashed in August in the U.S., Canada and India. Most of those cuts were made in Michigan, where Ford is headquartered. The automaker also cut 580 jobs in April 2022.
This planned round of cuts will be a fraction of the thousands last summer, the Free Press has learned.
Ford job boards have been simmering with anonymous posts about suspected job cuts in recent days, and media outlets have written of pending cuts in coming weeks.
The automotive industry is managing volatile changes in the economy, supply chain and product design while at the same time needing to spend billions on the evolution to electric vehicles.
In April, General Motors said it achieved $1 billion in savings through cutting several hundred jobs in February and offering voluntary buyouts in March to roughly 5,000 U.S. salaried employees workers and global executives.
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GM CEO Mary Barra and Ford CEO Jim Farley have consistently told shareholders during earnings calls that they’ll make adjustments as needed to remain competitive. At this time, gasoline-powered vehicles generate revenue needed to pivot to new electric products.
Automakers, including Ford, continue to hire talent in areas such as electrification and software technology even as layoffs occur. Executives industrywide say they need to continue adjusting skills with new demands.
Ford spokesman T.R. Reid said in a statement Friday: “We have nothing to announce. As we’ve said, part of the ongoing management of our business includes aligning our global staffing to meet business plans, and staying cost competitive as our industry evolves. At the same time, we continue to hire in key areas so that we have the skills and expertise needed to deliver on the Ford+ plan.”
Contact Phoebe Wall Howard: 313-618-1034 or phoward@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @phoebesaid.
