Ford Plans To Cut 8,000 Jobs To Help Fund EV Endeavors

Ford is planning to cut up to 8,000 jobs over the next few weeks in order to boost profits ahead of their foray into the electric-vehicle market, according to Bloomberg, which cited people familiar with the plan.

The job cuts will be concentrated within Ford’s relatively Blue unit, which produces internal combustion engine vehicles, and will affect salaried operations throughout the company. The anonymous sources noted that “the plan has not yet been finalized and details could still change.”

The rumored move comes after CEO Jim Farley previously said he wants to transform the Blue unit into “the profit and cash engine for the entire enterprise” – before launching a radical company restructuring in March that saw the company effectively split into two units; the “Model e” group to scale up EV offerings, and the “Ford Blue” unit to focus on traditional combustion engines.

The job cuts are expected to come among Ford’s salaried ranks in a variety of operational functions, according to the people familiar. They may come in phases, but are likely to begin this summer, the people said. Ford employs about 31,000 salaried workers in the US, where the bulk of the cuts are expected.

Ford declined to comment on possible job cuts, saying that it’s focused on reshaping the organization to capitalize on the growth of electric vehicles. “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,” Chief Communications Officer Mark Truby said in a statement. -Bloomberg

 “We have too many people,” Farley said during a February Wolf Research auto conference. “This management team firmly believes that our ICE and BEV portfolios are under-earning.”

In March, Farley fed the company’s EV unit $50 billion and set out on an ambitious plan to build 2 million battery-electric vehicles per year by 2026 – which would eclipse the 27,140 sold in the US last year.

EV sales rose 76.6% last month after rolling out its new electric F-150 Lightning picku.

“The funding for that $50 billion, it’s all based on our core automotive operations,” Farley told Bloomberg television. “That’s why we created a separate group called Ford Blue, because we need them to be more profitable to fund this.”