Ford to Cut Salaried Workers Worldwide to Reduce Bureaucracy

[Honeycombe8]

Source: The Street

Ford Motor Co. (F - Get Report) will reorganize its salaried workforce worldwide, flatten its business operations and create a more efficient company that results in fewer white collar jobs, the Detroit Free Press reported.

Ford has 201,000 employees globally, including an estimated 70,000 salaried workers, and is the largest car manufacturing employer in the U.S.

The company didn't say how many jobs would be affected.

The Dearborn-based automaker told employees about the plan on Thursday, the Free Press reported, saying the changes are part of trying to identify how the company can become stronger by limiting corporate bureaucracy and identifying weaknesses in all areas of business, from communications and finance to manufacturing and human resources.

Read more: https://www.thestreet.com/investing/ford-to-cut-salaried-workers-worldwide-to-reduce-bureaucracy-14735704?tstmem=74645471&utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=TSC&utm_term=Ford+to+Cut+Salaried+Workers+Worldwide+to+Reduce+Bureaucracy

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This comes out the same day as the news about Verizon sending out early severance offers to 44,000 of its workers, and announcing it would outsource its IT to an Indian multinational company.

Wanna hear something weird? Verizon sends out its letter to 44,000 workers, and FORD has about 44,000 workers in its hdqtrs in Dearborn, Michigan (if Wikipedia is correct).

This makes for a lot of layoffs in America, between these two companies.

[dhol82]

1. Just in time for the elections.

And the holidays. That might wake people more.

[bucolic_frolic]

2. Ford is about 30 years later than everyone else

Verizon is already outsourced to India. But none of them know when they're doing maintenance locally. I actually hope to get to the point where I no longer do business with either of these companies.

[Wellstone ruled]

6. So agree with your Ford comment.

This needed to be done a couple decades ago.

[bucolic_frolic]

9. Yes

Companies were cutting levels of management, and empowering workers to take responsibility for their work instead of the supers watching them. This was about 1990. Doesn't sound like much happened in that direction at Ford. Or maybe it did, there was just a lot more layers, or they have grown again, like algae.

[elmac]

14. Ford is the only real US auto maker

as all the others have been bailed out by taxpayers, so they have that to compete with also.

[bucolic_frolic]

15. Twice for Chrysler

[Honeycombe8]

17. And Ford actually makes some of its models in Mexico. Ford is having trouble...

its stock price is less now than it was several years ago. I think it said the tariffs are going to hit it hard. I think I read that.

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

19. Tariffs to hit Ford in the billion dollar range...

... it was a headline this past week or two.

[elmac]

20. when the economy collapses

and it will soon, the entire market will be in the shitter.

[True Dough]

27. I truly believe that

We all know how devasting 2008-09 was. But the Federal Reserve generally responded pretty well to the financial crisis, heading off a depression. What are the chances it will be managed as adeptly with Trump still in office? You know Donny is going to stick his nose in there and exacerbate matters.

[Honeycombe8]

23. Yikes. nt

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

22. Ford got bail out funds of $5.9 billion...

..."Many argue that Ford needed the funds to sustain its cash flow during the recession. Ford says it was in better shape than the other two because it had mortgaged its assets in 2006 to raise $23.6 billion. It used the loans to retool its product lineup to focus on smaller, energy efficient vehicles. It got the United Automobile Workers to agree it could finance half of a new retiree health care trust with company stock. By April 2009, it retired $9.9 billion of the debt it had taken out in 2006."

[link:https://www.thebalance.com/auto-industry-bailout-gm-ford-chrysler-3305670|

And now Ford is ditching all but two cars in America. Choosing to go with the high profit, lower efficiency SUV's.

[Honeycombe8]

26. Gotta go with what sells here.

I like SUVs, myself. Some of the models are as efficient as sedans, and more useful and practical. There are those big gas guzzlers, but those aren't the ones I'm speaking of.

If you live in a flood/hurricane zone like I do, a sedan which is just a few inches from the ground, is impractical. And an AWD helps with wet streets. Plus, if you have only one vehicle, you can't carry many items in a sedan, like long house molding, a ladder, a big box containing a garage storage rack (I recently bought one), etc.

A small-medium SUV is the way to go for many people, if you have only one vehicle.

[live2011]

3. Odd. So many companies are downsizing and laying off employees.

I thought this was supposed to be "the Greatest Economy Ever".

[Honeycombe8]

5. These reports must be a mistake. Everyone knows that Trump is the best jobs-maker ever!

No one creates jobs like he does! MAGA MAGA!

Joking aside, this is terrible news. So many people out of work. When so many are laid off, it's hard to find a new job because the area gets flooded with applicants.

[appalachiablue]

4. Thanks for the post. Really bad news for workers & the US.

[Honeycombe8]

7. LOL. Yeah...what, me worry? Nah...let's just have a beer & forgetaboutit! nt

[deancr]

8. There are trump voters

aplenty in the "glass house"-Ford headquarters in Dearborn Michigan. Their America isn't looking so great tonight. Those Mcmansion mortgage payments ain't hay.

[Honeycombe8]

11. Really? Well, well, well. I knew he won Michigan, but I wasn't sure by how much or by whom.

Who exactly those voters were.

But whether those laid off are Trumpers or not, big layoffs affect the entire community. When those salaries go away, it will have a snowball effect. They won't be buying products & services from the businesses where Trumpers work, and so on.

[Crowman2009]

10. Guess that so-called "right-to-work" law in Michigan didn't help worth a shit!

[Honeycombe8]

12. Guess not. Or the YUGE tax cut bill for corporations, so cos. would add jobs.

Anyone who thinks tax cuts lead to new jobs is an idiot.

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

13. Ford is going with the gas hog beached whales...

... and will only be selling two car models in the U.S. of A. Some analyst say Ford is positioning itself for the next auto maker bailout as gas prices rise.

[link:http://fortune.com/2018/04/25/ford-stop-making-cars-sedans/|

[bluecoat_fan]

16. I suspect CenturyLink will follow Verizon's lead

They have been slowly reducing head count since the Level3 merger. They claim 2%, but....
https://www.channele2e.com/news/centurylink-layoffs-2018-balancing-staff-cuts-big-stock-dividend-payments/

Also, their CFO jumped ship last month to T-Mobile. Not a good sign.
https://www.thenewsstar.com/story/money/2018/09/24/centurylink-cfo-sunit-patel-depart-company/1414317002/

[Honeycombe8]

18. Bummer. So far, the jobs numbers reflect no net loss in jobs.

Weird.

[madville]

21. AI will eventually make most white collar jobs obsolete

That's the real track we are on, eventually the government will have to tax corporations to give people an income since there won't be many human jobs left.

[Politicub]

24. More work for the employees that will be left

And no additional pay for the extra hours they will surely be required to work because they’re salaried.

Firing the “bureaucracy” is more sterile than saying Joan, who has worked in HR for 20 years, Saeed, who has been in finance for five years and has a family to feed, or Mary, who keeps the place running as an executive assistant, are getting fired.

[Maxheader]

25. Flattening the pyramid...limit bureaucracy

Its called major layoffs and bennys reduction...you'll see..
Problem with the big corps...when they do this they lose
some of their best people to other jobs.Why? because
their hr depts don't know how to separate their "gotta haves"
and their "dead wood"...

[TexasBushwhacker]

28. That's because HR is usually run by idiots

It certainly doesn't have to be that way, but in my experience people working in HR were mostly low IQ paper pushers.