May 20, 2019 - Economy & Business

Ford eliminating 7,000 jobs, including 2,300 in North America

As a part of its multiyear restructuring plan, Ford will cut 7,000 jobs, or 10% of its global salaried workforce, the Wall Street Journal reports. Roughly 2,300 of those jobs are in North America, Ford's CEO said in an email Monday.

The big picture: The 500 layoffs coming this week will largely wrap up a restructuring of Ford’s global salaried workforce, but there is still work remaining to gets it global manufacturing operations in good shape, per Axios' Joann Muller.

The big picture: CEO James Hackett, who has been criticized for moving too slowly to restructure Ford’s business, has called 2019 a turning point.

  • Those 2,300 jobs will be cut through buyouts and layoffs. About 1,500 already have happened, and about 500 workers will be let go this week, per AP. The company expects to save about $600 million per year by reducing 20% of its management structure.

What to watch: Ford begins negotiations this fall with the United Auto Workers union, but it's unlikely there will be big blue-collar layoffs in the U.S., where Ford's plants are running full tilt. But plant closings could happen in Europe and South America, where Ford has been struggling. Ford has already announced plans to close two factories in Russia.

Read Hackett's memo:

Go deeper: American manufacturing cities are losing white-collar jobs, too

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