JAGUAR Land Rover has axed its Castle Bromwich car plant worker hours to just three days a week until Christmas.
The car maker blamed the decision on “continuing headwinds” impacting the UK industry.
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The decision affects around half of the 2,000 employees at the Birmingham-based factory.
However, staff will remain on full pay, according to the BBC.
A JLR spokesperson said in a statement: “In light of the continuing headwinds impacting the car industry, we are making some temporary adjustments to our production schedules at Castle Bromwich.
Reuters
JLR’s announcement came just hours after Tory MP Sir Bernard Jenkin accused its CEO, Dr Ralf Speth, of scaremongering.
Dr Speth had told the UK’s first Zero Emission Vehicle Summit in Birmingham last week that a hard Brexit would cost JLR more than £1.2billion a year.
In response, Sir Bernard said yesterday: “I’m afraid I think he’s making it up.
“We’ve had figures made up all the time by the scaremongers in this debate and I’m afraid nobody believes them.”
Jack Bromey, local Labour MP for the factory area, criticised Sir Bernard’s comments on social media, adding that the government’s war on diesel is partly to blame for JLR’s decision.
The carmaker – owned by India’s Tata Motors – also axed 1,000 British jobs in April this year at its Solihull factory.
However, it remains Britain’s largest car manufacturer – employing 40,000 people and a further 260,000 in its supply chain.
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