Ford Motor Co. reduced its headcount in the U.S. by 580 workers on Wednesday, the Free Press has confirmed.
All of them come from the “engineering function,” the company said, without providing specific detail about the jobs.
“We continue to align staffing around the critical skills needed to deliver our products, services and the Ford+ plan,” Monique Brentley, a Ford spokeswoman, told the Free Press. “We are making adjustments in select U.S. engineering teams, which includes some reassignments as well as a reduction of approximately 350 salaried and 230 agency positions.”
The company did not say how many of the jobs are based in metro Detroit.
Ford notified the employers of the 230 agency employees. Ford team leaders notified their 350 salaried workers individually on Wednesday to conclude their service by the end of the week, Ford confirmed.
Ford CEO Jim Farley has said the company needs “totally different talent.”
Benefit packages
The Dearborn automaker is providing a package of benefits to the eligible 350 employees, including severance equal to up to nine months of pay based on service, benefits continuation for up to nine months based on service, and career transition services, the company told the Free Press.
“In addition, we look holistically at what components would best meet the needs of employees making a transition whether that be other full-time employment, entrepreneurial pursuits or exploring retirement options,” Brentley said.
More:Ford specialist has plan to overhaul culture, stop warranty claim finger-pointing
More:Ford CEO says automaker needs ‘totally different talent’ to meet goals.
“Employees are provided a comprehensive career transition and reemployment assistance package through Right Management. This package provides personalized one-on-one career and/or retirement coaching along with resume and profile development, eLearning course library access, resume/profile development, and access to exclusive career fairs and networking events,” Ford said.
The term used for this situation is called a reduction because they are permanent. People often use the term “layoff,” which indicates a temporary situation.
Farley announced in March the plan to restructure the company into Ford Blue and Ford Model e teams, in addition to the Ford Pro business side.
‘Talent gap’
The job reductions come from both Ford Blue and Ford Model e teams, Brentley said.
Ford employees contacted by the Free Press declined to comment.
Farley told industry analysts Wednesday evening during the first quarter earnings call that the company planned to close a “talent gap” and Ford was aggressively working to hire new talent.
Doug Field, chief electric vehicle and digital systems officer for Ford Model e, told analysts Wednesday, “As far as attracting talent, I’ve been really delighted and surprised by the kind of talent that we can attract from tech.”
Ford executives made no mention of the job reductions that occurred earlier Wednesday.
Farley said during the analyst call, “At this point in time, our real work that we need to do is to get after these inefficiencies and improve the productivity of our base business.”
More:Ford doubles annual bonuses amid worker fury over controversial formula
More:Lawsuit: Unsealed emails suggest Ford targeted high-performing older workers
Ford employs approximately 87,000 employees in the U.S., including about 31,000 salaried employees, the company said Wednesday. The reduction of approximately 350 U.S. salaried employees equates to approximately 1% of the U.S. salaried population.
Contact Phoebe Wall Howard at 313-222-6512 orphoward@freepress.com.Follow her on Twitter@phoebesaid. Read more on Ford and sign up for our autos newsletter.