Ford to eliminate 3,000 jobs in an effort to cut costs

DETROIT – Ford Motor is cutting about 3,000 jobs from its global workforce as the automaker tries to cut costs as part of a restructuring effort under Chief Executive Jim Farley.

Ford began notifying workers of the layoffs on Monday, a company spokesman confirmed. The cuts are for 2,000 salaried positions and 1,000 jobs at agencies in the U.S., Canada and India, Farley and Ford Chairman Bill Ford said in a memo to employees obtained by CNBC.

“Building this future requires changing and reformatting almost every aspect of how we’ve worked for more than a century. It requires focus, clarity and speed. And, as we’ve discussed in recent months, that means reallocating resources and addressing our cost structure, which is uncompetitive against traditional and emerging competitors,” the announcement said.

Ford’s cost-cutting moves are the latest in a series of efforts by companies to cut costs and the number of employees amid fears of a potential recession or economic softening, with inflation hovering near a 40-year high.

The layoffs, first reported Monday by Automotive News, come less than a month after Farley told analysts that “we have too many people in certain places, without a doubt.”

The cuts come at Ford’s business, which it split into two units earlier this year to separate its electric and combustion engine businesses.

“There are opportunities to be more efficient and more effective across all business units and all the functions that support them,” Ford spokesman TR Reid told CNBC.

Ford employs about 31,000 employees in North America. As of the end of last year, Ford had 186,769 employees worldwide, with 90,873, or 48.7%, of those workers located in the U.S.

Under Farley, who became CEO in October 2020, Ford is undergoing a sweeping transformation of the company, dubbed Ford+, which includes plans to cut structural costs by $3 billion by 2026 while investing billions in expansion. of its electric and commercial vehicle business.

“We worked differently than before, looking at each team’s work report related to our Ford+ plan. We are eliminating work as well as reorganizing and simplifying functions across the business,” the message to employees reads.

Ford shares fell about 5% in afternoon trading Monday to $15.10 a share. Shares are down about 27% in 2022.