Ford announces massive layoffs in Europe, resulting in the loss of jobs for 1x9 employees
CTOnews.com, February 15 (Xinhua)-- Ford announced that 1/9 of its European employees will be laid off after the company's active electrification program.
CTOnews.com learned that earlier this year, German union representatives warned for the first time of possible layoffs at Ford Europe, which is expected to cut about 2500 workers, most of them from Ford's Cologne plant. It turned out that this underestimated the size of its layoffs, as Ford announced that it would cut 3800 jobs from continental Europe, mainly from Germany and the UK.
Of the 3800 jobs cut, 2300 came from plants in Cologne and Aachen, Germany, 1300 from Ford in the UK, and the last 1300 from other parts of continental Europe, Reuters reported.
Ford has earlier warned that its $50 billion electrification plan is likely to come at the expense of jobs, especially outside its home market, North America. This is not only because fewer workers are needed to make electric parts compared to fuel car parts, but also because Ford plans to "downsize" its model production line when it achieves 100 per cent production of electric cars in Europe and eventually in North America.
"there is significantly less work to be done without the transmission of the internal combustion engine. We are entering a world with fewer global platforms, where less engineering work is needed. That's why we have to make adjustments," said Martin Sander, head of Ford Germany.
John Lawler, Ford's chief financial officer, also pointed out that despite continued investment, the productivity of Ford engineers in Europe was about 25-30% lower than their benchmark. This may have prompted Ford to move jobs to North America. According to Ford's battery production announcement issued in Michigan yesterday, Ford will build ten new plants in the United States, including battery production, parts production and assembly plants.
