Ford has announced that it plans to restructure the company in a major way, which will make Ford a leaner company that will focus on small vehicles and a smaller position in the US motor market.
The accelerated turnaround plan would include:
a) Laying off one-third of its white-collar jobs
b) Offering buyouts to 75,000 hourly workers, and
c) Shutting down or sell off more plants.
Ford has been reeling under a steadily deteriorating financial health this year owing to higher fuel prices, skyrocketing costs of raw materials and decline in pickup truck sales. So the company is seeking remedy in the radical measures as cited above to return to good health. It hopes that with the measures the company will be able to reduce annual operating costs by a whopping $5 billion dollars by 2008
This means that 14,000 white-collar positions will be purged through schemes such as early retirements, voluntary separations and what it termed as ‘if necessary, involuntary separations’ (which is effectively sacking). Ford hopes to see the backs of most of the workers scheduled to be chopped by March end next year.
So much for salvaging a company.
News: Washington Post
