Ford aims to cut global workforce by 10%

[Trump]

Ford Aims to Cut Global Workforce by Roughly 10%

Job cuts expected to be outlined as early as this week and largely target salaried employees


An employee prepares to install the front grill on a Ford Super Duty Truck at the Ford Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville, Ky. Photo: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg News





Ford Motor Co. aims to cut about 10% of its global workforce amid Chief Executive Officer Mark Fields’s drive to boost profits and the auto maker’s sliding stock price, according to people briefed on the plan.
The move comes as Ford targets $3 billion in cost reductions for 2017, a plan intended to improve profitability in 2018 even as U.S. auto sales plateau. Ford’s share price has suffered during Mr. Fields’s three-year tenure, and the company’s market value has slipped far behind those of Tesla Inc. and General Motors Co.


The job cuts, expected to be outlined as early as this week, largely target salaried employees, these people said. It is unclear if the plan includes reductions in the hourly workforce at Ford’s factories in the U.S. and abroad. Ford has 200,000 employees globally, half of which work in North America.



“We remain focused on the three strategic priorities that will create value and drive profitable growth, which include fortifying the profit pillars in our core business, transforming traditionally underperforming areas of our core business and investing aggressively, but prudently, in emerging opportunities,” Ford said in a statement.


“Reducing costs and becoming as lean and efficient as possible also remain part of that work. We have not announced any new people efficiency actions, nor do we comment on speculation,” the company said.
Deep job cuts in the U.S. could trigger a political backlash at the White House, as President Donald Trump has repeatedly pointed to auto makers like Ford as examples of companies adding U.S. jobs.


Mr. Trump pressured Ford to pull back on Mexico production and invest in U.S. factories. Ford committed to scrap a Mexican factory that had been under construction until earlier this year. The company will add 700 jobs in Michigan with money saved in Mexico.


Mr. Fields last week faced heightened scrutiny from board members and investors who have long complained about Ford’s sluggish stock performance in an era of record profitability.


Ford has launched into a series of new technology investments under Mr. Fields, including a $4.5 billion electric-vehicle program and an aggressive autonomous-car project. While both programs could contribute to Ford’s longer-term prospects, the spending erodes profit margins at a time when sales of lucrative pickups and sport utilities remain strong.


The auto maker’s stock price has fallen nearly 40% since Mr. Fields became CEO in mid-2014. Shares have fallen even as the broader U.S. auto market has grown for seven straight years. Now, as volumes stabilize, executives are turning to downsizing moves like those of a decade ago. Ford shares were up 2 cents at $10.94 in 4 p.m. composite trading Monday on the New York Stock Exchange. While Mr. Fields worked to ease political tensions, he hasn’t been able to answer investor concerns about Ford’s ability to weather a downturn or find new sources of revenue. The Dearborn, Mich., auto maker has booked substantial profits in recent years, including delivering two consecutive years of record earnings, but its market value sank below electric-car maker Tesla Inc. earlier this year.

Now, Ford has said it expects its profits to fall in 2017 and has flagged slowing sales in the U.S. and China—two of the world’s largest auto markets. Ford has been steadily expanding both its salaried and unionized workforce since the financial crisis. While many employees have been added to support higher volumes and expansion in global markets, Mr. Fields has also been hiring to support new technology ventures that fall outside of the company’s core business of building and selling cars.
These new projects include a unit called Ford Smart Mobility LLC, and an expanding presence in Silicon Valley, where several tech giants are rushing forward with car-sharing ventures, driverless cars and other future mobility experiments. Ford in February, announced it would acquire artificial-intelligence startup Argo AI with plans to invest $1 billion over the next five years to expand the firm.

General Motors, meanwhile, has been retrenching under Chief Executive Mary Barra. It began cutting thousands of U.S. jobs in the U.S. earlier this year in response to soft demand for passenger cars, and has pulled out of several underperforming markets, including a plan to sell its Opel unit to Peugeot .

Ms. Barra, like Mr. Fields, faces pressure from investors. Greenlight Capital Inc., a hedge fund run by David Einhorn, is pleading with shareholders ahead of GM’s annual meeting to support his plan for a revamped capital structure and new board members. Ford steered clear of the bankruptcies that allowed GM and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV’s Chrysler unit to cut significant costs under chapter 11 protections. Ford did, however, implement a series of painful cuts aimed at slimming down unionized head count at manufacturing plants and shrinking the white-collar ranks.

Mr. Fields, a 28-year veteran of the company, ran Ford’s core North American unit for several years and served as architect of many of those downsizing efforts. He has overseen several tense negotiations with United Auto Worker officials. He also shrank the company’s European operation earlier last decade, earning a reputation as a hard-nosed leader willing to attack the cumbersome cost structure that long burdened Detroit’s car companies. As sales rebounded following the 2009 financial crisis, Ford’s ranks swelled. Employment in North American, responsible for the bulk of the auto maker’s profits, has grown 25% over the past five years and the auto maker has also been expanding in China.

Ford has been a big beneficiary from surging demand for SUVs and pickups, including the best-selling F-150. Like GM and Chrysler, Ford has been forced to trim production of smaller cars, such as the Focus, and the auto maker has taken action to reduce dealer inventories in the U.S.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/ford-to...-10-1494897770

[Sprintey]

They can see what's coming

https://blindersoffllc.blogspot.com....n-for.html?m=1

Article is a bit heavy-on, but excellent analysis of relationship between used car values and new car sales.

[NX74205]

Apparently Mark Fields himself isn't safe from the global cuts: http://www.caradvice.com.au/552417/f...ent-reshuffle/

Unconfirmed at this stage, though. I thought he had been doing alright.

[Sprintey]

Wow, that's big.

[FormulaFG]

General Motors, meanwhile, has been retrenching under Chief Executive Mary Barra. It began cutting thousands of U.S. jobs in the U.S. earlier this year in response to soft demand for passenger cars, and has pulled out of several underperforming markets, including a plan to sell its Opel unit to Peugeot .

How do you fix GM?

Install a Barra.

[NX74205]

Originally Posted by NX74205

Unconfirmed at this stage, though. I thought he had been doing alright.

Now official: Jim Hackett is new Ford CEO.

https://media.ford.com/content/fordm...tt-as-ceo.html

[russellw]

No surprise there - you can't take that sort of hiding in the (share) marketplace and expect to survive.

Cheers
Russ

[Wretched]

Originally Posted by NX74205

Now official: Jim Hackett is new Ford CEO.

https://media.ford.com/content/fordm...tt-as-ceo.html

Saw that this morning, very disappointed.

[mike_nofx]

That's it, I'm boycotting Ford. Will never buy a new Ford.

Oh wait, I already started that boycott when Australian production ended.

[CyberWasp]

Does anyone think they will target the Designers / Engineers ect left here, and close all Australian operations in the near future?

[GASWAGON]

Originally Posted by CyberWasp

Does anyone think they will target the Designers / Engineers ect left here, and close all Australian operations in the near future?

Would'nt surprise me.

Trump wants jobs for U.S back to pay off all that 20 Trillion of debt they have!

[Sprintey]

Nissan: Australia's own (EV part plant in the Dandenongs).

So sad it's come to this, but Aus Ford manufacturing workers won't be part of this 10%. Watch Hackett do more (look up how he turned his former company around)

btw, China just slapped a 95% tariff on sugar, so much for free trade, what a joke...

[Fordman1]

Originally Posted by CyberWasp

Does anyone think they will target the Designers / Engineers ect left here, and close all Australian operations in the near future?

PD worldwide are not affected.

In fact only 1400 salaried employees world wide are - not 10%.

[roddy1960]

Originally Posted by FormulaFG

How do you fix GM?

Install a Barra.

G'day , Barra's have been seeing to GM's for years already. They love sorting out GM's....Cheers Rod..

[roddy1960]

Originally Posted by FormulaFG

How do you fix GM?

Install a Barra.

G'day ,With a barra they've certainly got the job in front of them . Cheers Rod..

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by CyberWasp

Does anyone think they will target the Designers / Engineers ect left here, and close all Australian operations in the near future?

Not effected. And with the money they are pouring into facilities it's not going anywhere soon.

[GO FURTHER]

10% is just the tip of the iceberg.
Just wait till electric cars become the norm in a decade, with around only 18 moving parts in the drivetrain or so.

Does anyone really think, as many workers will be needed to make electric Ford cars coupled with increasing automation and robots?

In the future, not only will all conventional car manufacturers be shedding jobs big time, with new competition from Tesla and maybe Google to also contend with.... But as predicted by the MD of Mercedes Benz.... Many will also go into bankruptcy!

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by BAXRSIX

10% is just the tip of the iceberg.
Just wait till electric cars become the norm in a decade, with around only 18 moving parts in the drivetrain or so.

Does anyone really think, as many workers will be needed to make electric Ford cars coupled with increasing automation and robots?

In the future, not only will all conventional car manufacturers be shedding jobs big time, with new competition from Tesla and maybe Google to also contend with.... But as predicted by the MD of Mercedes Benz.... Many will also go into bankruptcy!

The electric motor is only one part of the car. The other stuff doesn't disappear. The required personal may be different but it still takes many people to design a car.

[Syndrome]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

Not effected. And with the money they are pouring into facilities it's not going anywhere soon.

Not true. Nissan built a new paint shop at the Clayton factory not long before the decision was made to close.

Mitsubishi invested a lot of money in their Tonsley Park plant before it was closed.

Recent capital is no guarantee for future survival.

[Fordman1]

Originally Posted by Syndrome

Not true. Nissan built a new paint shop at the Clayton factory not long before the decision was made to close.

Mitsubishi invested a lot of money in their Tonsley Park plant before it was closed.

Recent capital is no guarantee for future survival.

"Not true" ?

So you're saying the local product engineering facilities will be going soon ?

[Syndrome]

Originally Posted by Fordman1

"Not true" ?

So you're saying the local product engineering facilities will be going soon ?

No. I said there is no guarantee they will stay.

[Fordman1]

Originally Posted by Syndrome

Not true. Nissan built a new paint shop at the Clayton factory not long before the decision was made to close.

Mitsubishi invested a lot of money in their Tonsley Park plant before it was closed.

Recent capital is no guarantee for future survival.

Originally Posted by Syndrome

No. I said there is no guarantee they will stay.

It's funny how a reply headed with 'Not True.", to a statement by a Forum member, is somehow 'offset' by a 'post script' of 'No Guarantee'.

[Bossxr8]

Originally Posted by Syndrome

Not true. Nissan built a new paint shop at the Clayton factory not long before the decision was made to close.

Mitsubishi invested a lot of money in their Tonsley Park plant before it was closed.

Recent capital is no guarantee for future survival.

There's not much testing facilities in India, Thailand and China. And the US can't take all that work on, so what do you reckon the chances are of shutting it down?

Not saying it will ever happen, but not in the short to medium term.

[mr smith]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

There's not much testing facilities in India, Thailand and China. And the US can't take all that work on, so what do you reckon the chances are of shutting it down?

Not saying it will ever happen, but not in the short to medium term.

Proving Ground and Geelong will be gone in 5 years. Design and Broady PD gone in 10. Money they are spending is chicken feed in the big scheme.

[Syndrome]

It is interesting to note how Ford (and GM) keep shedding and downsizing their organisations. It appears they are aware that they no longer have the same customer base they used to and need to get ride of excess capacity.

[Fordman1]

Originally Posted by mr smith

Proving Ground and Geelong will be gone in 5 years. Design and Broady PD gone in 10. Money they are spending is chicken feed in the big scheme.

I'm calling BS.

I'll bookmark this thread for 5 years time - you do the same

You obviously don't know what is done at RDC or at the APPDC.

[Fordman1]

Originally Posted by Syndrome

It is interesting to note how Ford (and GM) keep shedding and downsizing their organisations. It appears they are aware that they no longer have the same customer base they used to and need to get ride of excess capacity.

Except for PD in Australia which has gone from 1200 to 1750 heads in the last 6 months

[DJR-351]

Originally Posted by Fordman1

Except for PD in Australia which has gone from 1200 to 1750 heads in the last 6 months

While I don't have a dog in this fight, in the world of big business what you state is really meaningless. I know of one shipping company who last year placed an order for three new build ships worth $120m a piece, employed a further 150 employees for newly signed contracts, and have now recently cancelled the order and contracts, retrenched the 150 employees AND a further 300 due to newly implemented down sizing...

I am in no way implying Ford will do this with PD in Aus and have no idea what will happen, just that time and time again I see big businesses that appear to be on the up and up, only to have the trapdoor open overnight without any warning...

Personally I hope Ford head office leaves it well alone, but to think anywhere is safe at times like this when the bean counters have been given there orders is well.....

[mr smith]

A multi billion dollar revamp for Dearborn PD campus, Ranger being sold in the US, Trump in office and now a new CEO in charge of getting the share price back up. I dont think the writing on the wall could get any bigger for the danger facing the OZ operations.

[Fordman1]

Originally Posted by mr smith

A multi billion dollar revamp for Dearborn PD campus, Ranger being sold in the US, Trump in office and now a new CEO in charge of getting the share price back up. I dont think the writing on the wall could get any bigger for the danger facing the OZ operations.

Like I said bookmark this thread and we'll see who is correct.

5 years