Ford’s restructuring plans are coming into focus, with the automaker planning to cut 3,000 jobs.
First reported by Automotive News and confirmed by TechCrunch, Ford is looking to restructure and reduce costs. The move comes as the company is increasingly transitioning to hybrid and electric vehicles (EVs), making some skill sets less desirable than they once were.
“We absolutely have too many people in certain places. No doubt about it. And we have skills that don’t work anymore, and we have jobs that need to change,” CEO Jim Farley said in July 2022, via TechCrunch. “We have lots of new work statements that we’ve never had before. We are literally virtually reshaping our company, like every part of our company. And you know the ICE business, we want to simplify it, we want to make sure the skills we have and the works statements we have are as lean as possible. We know our costs are not competitive at Ford. That’s what I mean by we are not satisfied.”
Earlier reports had put the number of job cuts as high as 8,000. Those reports indicated the layoffs would largely be in the company’s Ford Blue unit, responsible for internal combustion engine (ICE). In contrast, the company’s Ford Model e unit is dedicated to its EV development.