Ford enters final stretch of cutting 7,000 white-collar jobs
05-20-19, 01:52 PM
#1
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
Ford enters final stretch of cutting 7,000 white-collar jobs
Ford is almost done cutting about 7,000 white-collar jobs, which would make up 10 per cent of its global workforce.
The company has said it's undertaking a major restructuring, and on Monday said that it will have trimmed thousands of jobs by August.
The company said the plan will save about $600 million US per year by eliminating bureaucracy and increasing the number of workers reporting to each manager.
In the U.S., about 2,300 jobs will be cut through buyouts and layoffs. About 1,500 already have happened, and some 500 workers will be let go in the U.S. and Canada this week. A final 300 will be cut in the U.S. and Canada by August, a spokesperson for Ford Canada told the CBC in an email Monday.
In a memo to employees, Monday, CEO Jim Hackett said the fourth wave of the restructuring will start on Tuesday, with the majority of cuts being finished by May 24.
"To succeed in our competitive industry, and position Ford to win in a fast-changing future, we must reduce bureaucracy, empower managers, speed decision making and focus on the most valuable work, and cost cuts," Hackett wrote.
In the U.S., about 1,500 white-collar employees have left the company voluntarily since the restructuring began last year, some taking buyouts. About 300 have been laid off already, with another 500 layoffs starting this week.
Most of Ford's white-collar workers are in and around the company's Dearborn, Mich., headquarters.
In November, General Motors announced it would shed up to 14,000 workers as it cut expenses to prepare for a shift to electric and autonomous vehicles.
The layoffs included closure of five factories in the U.S. and Canada and cuts of another 8,000 white-collar workers worldwide. About 5,000 blue-collar positions were cut, but most of laid-off factory workers in the U.S. will be placed at other plants mainly that build trucks and SUVs.
Both companies have said the cuts are needed to prepare for the future, because companies face huge capital expenditures to update their current vehicles and develop them for the future.
The cuts brought withering criticism of GM from U.S. President Donald Trump and Congress, especially the closing of a small-car factory in Lordstown, Ohio. Trump campaigned on bringing factory jobs back to the industrial Midwest. GM has since announced a possible deal to sell the Lordstown plant to a startup electric vehicle maker, but it hasn't been finalized.
Hackett said in the memo that Ford is departing from past practices and letting laid-off employees stay a few days to wrap up their jobs and say good-bye to colleagues. In the past, laid-off workers would have had to pack up and leave immediately.
"Ford is a family company and saying goodbye to colleagues is difficult and emotional," Hackett wrote.
Shares of Ford Motor Co. slipped early Monday.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/for...jobs-1.5142502
The company has said it's undertaking a major restructuring, and on Monday said that it will have trimmed thousands of jobs by August.
The company said the plan will save about $600 million US per year by eliminating bureaucracy and increasing the number of workers reporting to each manager.
In the U.S., about 2,300 jobs will be cut through buyouts and layoffs. About 1,500 already have happened, and some 500 workers will be let go in the U.S. and Canada this week. A final 300 will be cut in the U.S. and Canada by August, a spokesperson for Ford Canada told the CBC in an email Monday.
In a memo to employees, Monday, CEO Jim Hackett said the fourth wave of the restructuring will start on Tuesday, with the majority of cuts being finished by May 24.
"To succeed in our competitive industry, and position Ford to win in a fast-changing future, we must reduce bureaucracy, empower managers, speed decision making and focus on the most valuable work, and cost cuts," Hackett wrote.
In the U.S., about 1,500 white-collar employees have left the company voluntarily since the restructuring began last year, some taking buyouts. About 300 have been laid off already, with another 500 layoffs starting this week.
Most of Ford's white-collar workers are in and around the company's Dearborn, Mich., headquarters.
2nd recent set of layoffs
It's the second set of layoffs for Detroit-area automakers, even though the companies are making healthy profits. Sales in the U.S., where the automakers get most of their revenue, have fallen slightly but still are strong.In November, General Motors announced it would shed up to 14,000 workers as it cut expenses to prepare for a shift to electric and autonomous vehicles.
The layoffs included closure of five factories in the U.S. and Canada and cuts of another 8,000 white-collar workers worldwide. About 5,000 blue-collar positions were cut, but most of laid-off factory workers in the U.S. will be placed at other plants mainly that build trucks and SUVs.
Both companies have said the cuts are needed to prepare for the future, because companies face huge capital expenditures to update their current vehicles and develop them for the future.
The cuts brought withering criticism of GM from U.S. President Donald Trump and Congress, especially the closing of a small-car factory in Lordstown, Ohio. Trump campaigned on bringing factory jobs back to the industrial Midwest. GM has since announced a possible deal to sell the Lordstown plant to a startup electric vehicle maker, but it hasn't been finalized.
Hackett said in the memo that Ford is departing from past practices and letting laid-off employees stay a few days to wrap up their jobs and say good-bye to colleagues. In the past, laid-off workers would have had to pack up and leave immediately.
"Ford is a family company and saying goodbye to colleagues is difficult and emotional," Hackett wrote.
Shares of Ford Motor Co. slipped early Monday.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/for...jobs-1.5142502
05-20-19, 01:53 PM
#2
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
Black Monday for Ford. How is it that a company can be so poorly run, that a whopping 7000 white collared workers must be laid off worldwide? Just astonishing
05-20-19, 02:02 PM
#3
Lexus Fanatic
I personally like the idea of a boycott against both corporations. But, at the same time, I don't think that any of us (me included) should be in the habit of telling others what to buy or not buy.....even if they come to us for vehicle-shopping advice. We should give advice based on the vehicle-needs of that particular person or family, not our anger at those who run these companies....though sometimes those companies drop production of the models that would be the best ones for the people we're advising.
Last edited by mmarshall; 05-20-19 at 03:01 PM.
05-21-19, 04:55 AM
#4
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
05-21-19, 05:32 AM
#5
Lexus Fanatic
The idea that they have to lay people off is nonsense. Ford made some of their best profits when they employed far more workers than they do today.
I personally like the idea of a boycott against both corporations. But, at the same time, I don't think that any of us (me included) should be in the habit of telling others what to buy or not buy.....even if they come to us for vehicle-shopping advice. We should give advice based on the vehicle-needs of that particular person or family, not our anger at those who run these companies....though sometimes those companies drop production of the models that would be the best ones for the people we're advising.
I personally like the idea of a boycott against both corporations. But, at the same time, I don't think that any of us (me included) should be in the habit of telling others what to buy or not buy.....even if they come to us for vehicle-shopping advice. We should give advice based on the vehicle-needs of that particular person or family, not our anger at those who run these companies....though sometimes those companies drop production of the models that would be the best ones for the people we're advising.
On a serious note I kinda don't get it, my bro's experience with a brand new Raptor. What has happened to American customer service and quality, I don't think profits will happen when there's no "world class" service mentality. The field is too crowded. People no longer feel Kia and Hyundai are cheap. Look at the Stinger and Telluride.
Looked at the YouTubes there's a whole gear head mentality with the Power Wheels cars, I am, and I am not surprised. Will have to pull the wheel and open up the gearbox, likely #1 is stripped, or #4.
05-21-19, 07:14 AM
#6
Lexus Fanatic
True to an extent, but business is still business, and income-vs.-outgo still determines profit or loss. The main difference was, back then, that, even with Henry Ford II's dictatorship and family-fiefdom style of management (he was the original Henry Ford's grandson), He believed in giving customers what they wanted and treating his employees well, knowing that the better he treated them, the more likely they were to turn around and actually buy a Ford product (at a special employee-price). It paid off for him, in the company's bottom line. Too bad he didn't also treat his upper-level managers that way...Lee Iacocca goes into that, in detail, in his book, if you have read it....it is part of my automotive library.
05-21-19, 08:06 AM
#7
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
True to an extent, but business is still business, and income-vs.-outgo still determines profit or loss. The main difference was, back then, that, even with Henry Ford II's dictatorship and family-fiefdom style of management (he was the original Henry Ford's grandson), He believed in giving customers what they wanted and treating his employees well, knowing that the better he treated them, the more likely they were to turn around and actually buy a Ford product (at a special employee-price). It paid off for him, in the company's bottom line. Too bad he didn't also treat his upper-level managers that way...Lee Iacocca goes into that, in detail, in his book, if you have read it....it is part of my automotive library.
Trending Topics
05-21-19, 11:13 AM
#8
Lexus Fanatic
My answer is....I'm not sure it really is an excess. Auto-executives and marketers, especially in recent years, are known for double-talk, trying to convince the public of the "legitimacy" of anything they think will forever cut costs. Some people are easily fooled. I'm not.
05-21-19, 02:29 PM
#11
Lexus Fanatic
Smooth-talk from high-ranking auto executives and marketers. I've seen it before, and I suspect we will continue to see it.
Now, I'm not saying that they are always wrong (or evasive) and that we (as outsiders) are always right. But, too many times, they've tried to disguise the real intentions of their actions with arguments that they either had no choice (when they did) or that the ultimate motives were good (when they were questionable).
A perfect example of corporate B.S. was the Saturn Ion. Among a number of its numerous quirks, failures, and mediocrity was the loss of the former spin-off transmission filter for the 4-speed automatic (which made transmission service easy, quick, and inexpensive) and the traditional gauges found on the S-Series compacts, which the Ion replaced. The Ion, instead, in the middle of the dash, had center-stack gauges and a conventional transmission design, though it did keep the thermoplastic body panels, which Saturn later dropped. It's a classic cost-cutting move that makes it cheaper to produce left and right-hand drive versions for various markets. Saturn reps swore up and down that the Ion's center gauges were not there for cost-cutting, but put there for safety-purposes, so that the steering wheel, at certain adjustment-angles and seat-positions, would not block the driver's view of them. Yeah...and I'm the tooth fairy. And...you'll also notice that Saturn, very quietly, did not repeat the center-stack practice on other vehicles, knowing that the public was onto their game. They also came up with argument after argument on why they didn't (or couldn't) keep the popular plastic body-panels, replacing them with rebadged versions of steel-bodied vehicles. After a few more years of that, they completely lost confidence from the public, and the rest is history.
FYI, I'm not trying to hijack the thread into Saturn territory, just pointing out how auto executives and marketers sometimes take us for a bunch of saps. There are many other examples, and I could write all night about them.
Now, I'm not saying that they are always wrong (or evasive) and that we (as outsiders) are always right. But, too many times, they've tried to disguise the real intentions of their actions with arguments that they either had no choice (when they did) or that the ultimate motives were good (when they were questionable).
A perfect example of corporate B.S. was the Saturn Ion. Among a number of its numerous quirks, failures, and mediocrity was the loss of the former spin-off transmission filter for the 4-speed automatic (which made transmission service easy, quick, and inexpensive) and the traditional gauges found on the S-Series compacts, which the Ion replaced. The Ion, instead, in the middle of the dash, had center-stack gauges and a conventional transmission design, though it did keep the thermoplastic body panels, which Saturn later dropped. It's a classic cost-cutting move that makes it cheaper to produce left and right-hand drive versions for various markets. Saturn reps swore up and down that the Ion's center gauges were not there for cost-cutting, but put there for safety-purposes, so that the steering wheel, at certain adjustment-angles and seat-positions, would not block the driver's view of them. Yeah...and I'm the tooth fairy. And...you'll also notice that Saturn, very quietly, did not repeat the center-stack practice on other vehicles, knowing that the public was onto their game. They also came up with argument after argument on why they didn't (or couldn't) keep the popular plastic body-panels, replacing them with rebadged versions of steel-bodied vehicles. After a few more years of that, they completely lost confidence from the public, and the rest is history.
FYI, I'm not trying to hijack the thread into Saturn territory, just pointing out how auto executives and marketers sometimes take us for a bunch of saps. There are many other examples, and I could write all night about them.
Last edited by mmarshall; 05-21-19 at 03:00 PM.
05-21-19, 02:33 PM
#12
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
05-21-19, 02:46 PM
#13
Lexus Champion
I'm not a close follower of Ford, so I am not sure what's coming down the pipeline for them, but it would seem to me to not be unreasonable to have a surplus of engineering skill when they are dropping the Fiesta, Fusion, Taurus, and Focus.
05-21-19, 03:04 PM
#14
Lexus Fanatic
Like so much else in the auto business, it's simply a short-term-profit issue. The truth is that they simply don't make as much profit per unit on the small cars as they do large SUVs. So, management just wants them (and probably the workers who build them) out of the way, any way possible, even if there is still a potential market for them. And the easiest way for them to do that, of course, is simply to bring out the ax, regardless of the consequences.
Last edited by mmarshall; 05-21-19 at 03:10 PM.
05-21-19, 03:05 PM
#15
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
Well, you just hit another nail...almost on the head. Despite rhetoric, they have not provided convincing reasons why these products should be dropped.....particularly when rising gas prices could very well stimulate the sale of small cars again. The Taurus is also widely bought and used by police departments.
