Ford confirms new job cuts of salaried workers

Ford Motor Co. is cutting more salaried jobs, the company confirmed Wednesday.

Accounting, human resources and administrative support staff at Ford's world headquarters in Dearborn would be fired, confirmed sources close to the Free Press. In addition, the IT team in China would have experienced reductions.

"We will not provide figures," Ford spokesman Said Deep said on Wednesday after questions were asked about specific areas. "We will provide details once the process is completed in the second quarter."

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"We are in the process of an intelligent redesign process that allows us to create a more dynamic, agile and self-sustaining workforce, while at the same time becoming more fit as a business."

Deep declined to specify when from April to June, the company would announce the total number of jobs removed. When asked if cuts were being made on Wednesday, he declined to provide details.

"I can tell you that this whole overhaul will reduce bureaucracy and allow our leaders to focus on higher value-added work and ensure the right cost structure in the world," he said. "Yes, the work has resulted in employee layoffs and reallocations and we expect the process to be completed in the second quarter and make announcements in a timely manner."

Stressed for more details – more than 10 jobs? more than 100 jobs? – Deep said, "All I can tell you is that this work has resulted in separations, and this process started earlier, so it starts at the top, reverberating within the I & # 39; organization and taking place over weeks and months, the different levels of the company shape the organization, focusing on the most critical work and, in some cases, changing the way the work is done. "

Although Deep refused to discuss the schedule, internal sources told the company that cuts were being made this week.

White-collar workers have said for months that the atmosphere at Ford's Dearborn headquarters was obviously anxious. They describe the "paralyzing" tension in the expectation of job cuts and strategic decisions as the company's restructuring, worth $ 11 billion, unfolds slowly. .

Ford CEO Jim Hackett acknowledged the anxiety of employees in an interview with Free Press in February.

"I think it's absolutely right," he said. "My mind means:" Is it because of the anxiety of the restructuring? They maintain the ambiguity by saying, "I do not know my status." It is really unfair for our people to suffer that. There is a trade, see. You end up with a much better process from start to finish if you really involve people in designing what we do. When CEOs say we are eliminating only thousands of people, as if you are mowing the lawn, everyone feels like inanimate objects. Bill (Ford) and me, it's much more than that. "

In addition to confirmed job cuts on Wednesday, Ford employees who have not been identified for fear of retaliation say they are prepared to suffer deletions at the Product Development Center, as well as cuts to engineers working in buildings. located off Oakwood in Rotunda in Dearborn.

Ford is very proud to be the largest employer in the US auto sector with approximately 85,000 employees in 2018 and 56,000 hourly employees represented by the UAW.

"Ford's business needs a restructuring. We do not see Ford's restructuring as an "advantage to have" … but as a crucial step to balance global activity, "wrote Morgan Stanley Adam Jonas on August 20, 2018.

He predicted a 12% reduction in Ford's workforce worldwide.

Jonas pointed out that Ford's $ 11 billion cost forecast is "considerably larger" than the $ 8.5 billion previously expected by analysts, and that the lack of updates from investors at the time "contributed to the anxiety of these".

"Investors must weigh the risk of leveraging on the realization by an unknown management of a plan that could take three to five years … to open up to a range of potentially adverse economic and credit scenarios that could hinder the execution, "said Jonas.

Ford employs approximately 202,000 people worldwide. Analysts estimate that the termination costs, also called redemptions, amount to about $ 120,000 per employee for Ford.

The wisdom of slowly cutting jobs over a period of several months has been questioned, both internally and externally.

John McElroy, a long-time industry observer who hosts "Autoline After Hours," said Wednesday in response to Ford's news. "When it comes to firing a group, the best choice is to take advantage of the BAND-AID right away and not slowly – which only increases the pain for all of you." world to the organization. "

Contact Phoebe Wall Howard at age 313-222-6512or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @phoebesaid. Learn more about Ford and sign up for our Car Newsletter.

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