American multinational automaker, Ford Motor Company, is reportedly planning to let go about 1,000 of its employees in North America as part of a global restructuring to improve efficiency and become financially healthy.
Only last week, the Company’s employees in Michigan had visited their offices to clear their belongings and take them home in preparation for a longer work-from-home term. At the time, the global director of the Company’s real-estate wing had said that most employees are expected to work remotely as they would not be required to travel to the workplace every day.
Ford is now in the midst of implementing a restructuring initiative worth $11 billion, which began in 2018. For the first time in ten years, the Company may report an entire year of operating loss.
In 2019, Ford had shut down many plants, rendering thousands of employees jobless in Europe. Globally, it had slashed 7,000 jobs then to save about $600 million a year.
At the time, Jim Hackett, CEO, had explained to the employees why the cuts were necessary. The Company, was facing pressure from investors to decrease costs and improve profitability. Its operations overseas had come under the scanner. At the end of last year, Ford had a 190,000 strong global workforce. The job cuts last year included voluntary buyouts and involuntary layoffs.
