Ford Considers Cutting More Salaried Staff

[WhiteTara]

I guess they wanted to get this out today so that nobody would notice on Monday. Everyone will have been to sleep.

Ford spokesman Oscar Suris wouldn't confirm a report in The Wall Street Journal that said Ford may lay off up to 30 percent of its white-collar work force — about 10,500 of its 35,000 salaried workers — in North America over the next few years.

But he noted that earlier this week, Ford Chief Financial Officer Don Leclair said "nothing is off the table" when asked about possible cuts during a conference call to discuss second-quarter earnings.

Ford already has announced plans to reduce its salaried work force in North America by 2,700 people by the end of this year. It also has said it will reduce the use of agency workers and other purchased services by 10 percent.
snip
On Tuesday, Dearborn-based Ford said it earned $946 million in the April-June period versus a profit of $1.17 billion in the year-earlier period. It lost $907 million in North America, down $1.4 billion from a year ago. Ford's U.S. sales were down nearly 4 percent in the first six months of this year.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050724/ap_on_bi_ge/ford_cuts

[kestrel91316]

1. Oh but that's okay ..................

they will all just go get minimum wage part time work at Walmart and everything will be fine.

:sarcasm:

[WhiteTara]

2. or maybe they can get a manufacturing job

at MacDonalds! Don't worry, be happy tra la la

[halsaxby]

3. Why not...

That is how we keep getting unemployment figures and job growth figures.

[WhiteTara]

4. welcome to DU hasaxby

:hi:

[cliss]

5. Anybody who works at Ford

(or General Motors for that matter) should get moving and update their resume. Pretty quick.

I believe Ford and GM are going to file for bankruptcy. They're doing it because a) they're not doing well financially and b) they want to get out of their pension obligations.

They saw how United and other airlines unloaded their pension plans onto the tax payers.

It won't be long before they do the same thing.

[Jersey Ginny]

6. Ford has lacked vision

They have relied on the gas guzzlers and have largely ignored the hybrids and other gas saving measures. My old Ford Escort got 43 mpg and then I got a 2002 Focus and it gets around 30 mpg. That is a real step backwards for essentially the same car! Ford is now giving its products away and that will affect all markets for all cars, new and used and hurt all dealers and the resale value of their cars. They have no choice, but their lack of vision has really hurt them. The Prius was the car of the year last year, I believe. Toyota has invested thoughfully in hybrids and there is a huge wait list to get one. Ford now has the Escape hybrid, which I hope sells well. I want them to succeed. The government could help our auto companies by mandating a mpg increase that is substantial for all cars or for giving tax breaks for cars purchased that get over 50 mpg.

[barb162]

7. Walmart jobs won't pay for new Fords (nor the rent)