Ford is prepping up for yet another round of layoffs to be announced as early as next week, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing people close to the matter. The layoffs would include mostly U.S. salaried workers impacting the gas-engine business, EV, and software divisions. However, the number of job cuts remains undisclosed.
The move comes on the heels of recent voluntary buyouts offered by peer companies General Motors (NYSE:GM) and Stellantis (NYSE:STLA) to ensure an efficient cost structure.
Ford eliminated 3,000 white-collar and contract employees. In early 2023, the company said that it was initiating a 3,800-employee reduction from its European workforce.
The company alerted some workers who are employed by outside agencies that their contracts were not being renewed, as first reported by the Detroit Free Press. Ford declined to comment on the number of contractors whose positions were cut.
"People in certain agency positions across a few skill teams were notified Friday by their employers that their assignments at Ford have ended," said Ford spokesperson T.R. Reid.
The cuts come ahead of an expected round of layoffs among salaried workers that could happen as early as next week, as The Detroit News previously reported.
Last March, Ford separated its EV business and gas business. Since then, it’s burning cash to grow. While Ford works to realize its grand EV vision, the US government is lending the cash to get things moving.
The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced yesterday (June 22) that it intends to loan BlueOval SK, owned by the Michigan automaker and South Korean battery giant SK On, up to $9.2 billion for the construction of three battery factories, one in Tennessee and two in Kentucky. Battery production at these facilities is slated to begin in 2025.
LG, and the biggest one made to a car manufacturer since the bailouts after the global recession in 2009—is testament to the Biden administration putting its money where its mouth is. The government is helping American manufacturers play catch up to China. Tensions on the US-Sino trade front have made US self-sufficiency in areas like EV battery market a priority.
The funding builds on previous state-level infusions, which include the $2.4 billion Subsidy BlueOval won from the state of Tennessee in 2021, and the $276 million—$250 million in forgivable loans and $36 million worth of training funds—that Ford sought from Kentucky.
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