Ford has said it plans for half of its global production to be electric vehicles by 2030.Executive Chairman Bill Ford and CEO Jim Farley said in the email to employees that Ford will provide severance benefits and significant help for the workers to find new jobs. They wrote that Ford has a chance to lead in the new era of connected and electric vehicles.
“Building on this future requires changing and reshaping virtually all aspects of the way we have operated for more than a century,” the email said. “It means redeploying resources and addressing our cost structure, which is uncompetitive versus traditional and new companies.” Farley and Ford wrote that the company examined each team’s shifting work to decide where cuts would be made. The company determined that its cost structure wasn’t competitive with General Motors, Stellantis and Tesla. Ford has said previously that it has a target of cutting $3 billion in annual internal combustion vehicle structural costs by 2026.
“We are eliminating work, as well as reorganizing and simplifying functions throughout the business,” they wrote in the email. Farley has said repeatedly that the company’s global work force of 182,000 is too large, and it needs to trim costs and simplify processes so it can move faster as it transitions to electric vehicles.The cuts may not be over. Company spokesman T.R. Reid said Ford will continue to change with the industry and more job losses are possible. He said it’s common for companies to continually add people where they need them and trim where fewer jobs are needed.
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