Ford Motor Co. told workers today that it would downsize its workforce by 1,400 salaried jobs by the end of the year. Kumar Galhotra, Ford’s president of Americas and International Markets group, informed employees the company would extend buyout offers to eligible employees, but that, if not enough buyouts were taken, the company would have to move to involuntary layoffs.
According to Galhotra’s email, the buyouts will be available to selected employees who are eligible for retirement as of December 31, and more details on who will be eligible will be available September 8 with offers remaining valid until October 23.
According to Transportation Topics, buyouts will be made available to salaried employees of 65 years of older with 5 years of service with Ford, 55 years or older with 10 years with the company, or anyone at the company with 30 or more years of service.
“We’re in a multi-year process of making Ford more fit and effective,” wrote Galhotra in the email, referring to Ford’s $11 billion reorganization first announced by CEO Jim Hackett in 2018. The layoffs are a part of that reorganization, which last year saw the company make significant costs to its European operations: in 2019, Ford closed some plants and reduced its worldwide salaried workforce by 7,000 people, 2,300 of which were U.S. jobs. According to American Machinist, the company anticipates a full-year loss in 2020.
Recent months have also seen major manufacturers Boeing Co. and Coca-Cola Co. issue voluntary layoff programs in response to the coronavirus pandemic, which also hampered Ford with depressed sales figures and an eight-week factory shutdown.
The cuts were first reported by Bloomberg News and StreetInsider.com before subsequently being confirmed by The Detroit News.
