The Detroit Free Press reports Ford Confirms New Salaried Worker Job Cuts as Part of $11B Overhaul.
“We’re not going to provide any numbers,” Ford spokesman Said Deep said Wednesday in response to questions about the specific areas cut. “We will provide details once the process is complete in the second quarter.”
He added, “We are undergoing a smart redesign process that allows us to create a more dynamic, agile and empowered workforce. At the same time, we’re becoming more fit as a business.”
Deep declined to say when from April through June the company would announce the total number of jobs slashed. Asked whether cuts were, in fact, happening on Wednesday, he declined to provide details.
“I can tell you that this whole redesign is going to reduce bureaucracy and empower our leaders to focus on the most value-added work and ensure we have the right cost structure around the world,” he said.
White-collar workers have said for months that the mood at Ford headquarters in Dearborn is palpably anxious. They describe “paralyzing” tension waiting for job cuts and strategic decisions as the company’s $11-billion restructuring slowly unfolds.
VW Slashes 7,000 Jobs
Whereas Ford won’t disclose anything, VW Slashes 7,000 Jobs to Refocus on Electric Cars.
Volkswagen AG plans to cut as many as 7,000 administrative positions over the next five years amid an industrywide scramble to slash costs and make room on the balance sheet for heavy spending on electric and self-driving cars.
The German auto maker said Wednesday that the job cuts will be at its namesake VW brand, the company’s biggest division. The cuts would amount to about 6% of the brand’s domestic workforce of 119,394 employees.
General Motors Co. said last year it would shed as many as 14,800 factory and salaried workers and shut several factories in the U.S. and Canada, cutting costs by $4.5 billion to free up cash to invest in electric and self-driving vehicles.
Volkswagen isn’t the only German auto maker under pressure. Luxury-car makers BMW AG and Daimler AG, which makes Mercedes-Benz, have cast off their decadeslong rivalry to combine forces to develop self-driving car technology and new mobility services such as car-sharing and ride-hailing.
The digitization of routine processes and products is shaking the industry. Vehicles and their manufacture, largely unchanged for a century, are being rethought, jeopardizing jobs from the office tower to the factory floor.
At the same time, auto makers are hiring armies of software programmers and developers to keep up with the technological change.
The auto industry now finds itself in direct competition with Silicon Valley tech giants such as Tesla, Alphabet Inc.’s Google and ride-hailing behemoth Uber Technologies Inc. Investors sizing up the competitors have bid down the share prices of conventional auto makers.
Revolution Underway
A car revolution is underway on many fronts.
Speaking at the annual Geneva Motor Show last week, PSA Group SA CEO Carlos Tavares said “The period that goes from now up to 2030 is going to be chaos.”
There is no doubt about that.
Mike “Mish” Shedlock
” to reduce bureaucracy and empower our leaders…” And that is the punch bowl. Leaders are already empowered, and many in leadership are going to grow a bureaucracy to ensure job security.
Cutting down on “white collar” workers seems like a no-brainer efficiency measure, and automation must be reducing the number of factory workers needed. As for sales, the fact that cars last a lot longer now must be reducing the number of new cars needed.
The truth is car demand is down bc more people are just using ride sharing services. There is a lower bound on these new car prices and a car is a waste of money for many going forward. The car companies can harp on efficiency and electric cars but secular changes by millenials and others are the real story.
Not to mention cars are bland and largely identical. When you have to look at the badge to figure out what it is, who cares?
This whole thing about cutting jobs to refocus on automation and electric cars seems fishy to me.
Your nose seem to be working…..
It’s what Uncle Sam wants us driving. And Tesla is the only exciting brand out there these days, at least according to the tech press. I just watched the latest episode of “the Grand Tour,” where they drove 80s supercars and hot hatchbacks. It could have easily aired 10 years ago and had the same impact. In fact, I’m pretty sure Top Gear did the same show, many times.
The fact that an electric drivetrain is much simpler to assemble (and the motors are made overseas) is just a bonus.
There are too many car companies. I expect many to disappear in the next 10 years. Mainly through consolidation, but some will flat out go Bankrupt.
Yup. As a country, or region, industrializes, one of the side effects are a supplier infrastructure that makes automaking more attainable. There’s really no way around this, as automaking makes use of such a broad spectrum of what goes into nearly all industry, than a supplier base fit for international competition in other industrial fields, can be brought into service for automaking as well.
And then, simultaneously, the industrialization process gives rise to a middle class who can now afford cars of their own. While the kind of specialization that is necessary for international industrial competitiveness, creates increased demand for transportation.
Which is why governments continuously prop up the automobile industry, even supporting companies that have no sustainable business model.
“What’s good for GM is good for America (again)!”