Ford will reportedly slash a quarter of its workforce to fuel EV expansion - The Verge

Ford is planning on laying off 8,000 salaried workers as it seeks to lower its costs. The company is reportedly looking to cut staff from its Ford Blue division that builds legacy gas-powered vehicles.

Ford is eyeing major cuts to its workforce in the midst of a shift to electric vehicles. According to a recent report in Bloomberg, the Blue Oval is gearing up to lay off 8,000 salaried workers — about a quarter of its workforce in the US — as it aims to reduce $3 billion in operational costs by 2026.

The cuts will be coming from Ford Blue, the company’s legacy internal combustion engine business. Earlier this year, Ford split itself into two entities, with Ford Blue covering ICE vehicles and Ford Model E focused on electric vehicles and software projects. At the time, Ford said that Ford Blue would generate the revenue that would help power Ford Model E to develop new and innovative products.

But now, it seems like Ford Blue will have to generate those revenues with far fewer employees. The cuts, which Bloomberg reports have not been finalized and could still change, are likely to come in phases, starting as soon as this summer. Ford employs around 31,000 workers in the US, where the bulk of the cuts is expected to fall.

According to the Detroit Free Press, Ford CEO Jim Farley sent a video message to employees Thursday morning, in which he didn’t deny that layoffs were coming and reiterated the goal of reducing operational costs at the company.

T.R. Reid, director of corporate and public policy communications at Ford, declined to discuss what he called “speculation by others about our business.”

https://www.theverge.com/2022/7/22/23274230/ford-blue-layoffs-model-e-ev

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