Ford will reportedly cut up to 8,000 jobs in the coming weeks as it continues its march towards an electric vehicle future.
Unnamed sources with information about the plan asserts that the majority of the job cuts will come from the Ford Blue unit that handles the production of the carmaker’s internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. Ford is also said to be targeting cuts at other salaried operations.
Bloomberg reports that the job cuts are expected to begin this summer and may come in phases. Most of the cuts are expected to be made from its 31,000-strong U.S. workforce and will involve Ford’s salaried ranks in a host of different operational functions.
Ford has denied requests to comment on possible job cuts, simply noting that it is looking at ways to cut costs and expands its presence in the EV market.
“As part of this, we have laid out clear targets to lower our cost structure to ensure we are lean and fully competitive with the best in the industry,” Ford chief communications officer Mark Truby said.
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Ford chief executive Jim Farley has previously committed to cut $3 billion in costs by 2026 and wants to turn Ford Blue into “the profit and cash engine for the entire enterprise.”
“We have too many people,” Farley added in February. “This management team firmly believes that our ICE and BEV portfolios are under-earning.”
Ford revealed that it will boost spending on EVs to $50 billion and intends on building 2 million electric vehicles annually by 2026. Funding the automaker’s electric growth will be its combustion-powered vehicles.
“The funding for that $50 billion, it’s all based on our core automotive operations,” Farley said. “That’s why we created a separate group called Ford Blue, because we need them to be more profitable to fund this.”
