The first of 500 US Ford salaried employees have been told they’re going as part of the final phase of Ford’s white-collar job cuts.
About 7000 white-collar job cuts are to be completed around the world by August, The Detroit News reports.
“We have been very clear that we are in final stages of a reorganisation of our salaried workforce,” Ford spokesman Brad Carroll says. “At the same time, we are working across the company in many other ways to reduce costs and become more fit. As we have said, this is not simply a restructuring or cost-cutting plan, it’s a complete redesign of our business now and in the future.”
When the US layoffs wrap up by June, Ford will have cut around 800 jobs in addition to 1500 buyouts late last year, or around 7% of its US salaried workforce, The Detroit News adds.
The layoffs come months after General Motors cut 15% of its global salaried workforce.
Ford’s layoffs are part of a US$25.5 billion pool of cost cuts expected to roll out over the next few years.
A strong economy could help Ford employees affected by the layoffs, something GM also said during its restructuring and plan to idle five plants in the US and Canada.
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