Ford UK Cuts Will Likely Come From Voluntary Retirements

Earlier this week, Ford announced that it would be cutting 4,000 jobs across its European operations by the end of 2027 – most of them in the UK and Germany – in an effort to compensate for significant losses from its passenger vehicle business and weaker than expected demand for all-electric vehicles. Along with these moves, Ford also called for government officials to create incentives for EVs that will help drive sales, which it sees as a necessity as the region aims to achieve its zero-emissions goals by 2035. Now, we’re learning that many of the upcoming Ford UK job cuts will apparently come from voluntary retirements.

According to BBC, Ford UK will cut 800 jobs in that particular country in total over the next three years, but the automaker also noted that these reductions won’t impact production at its plants in Dagenham and Halewood, nor the logistics site in Southampton. Rather, these cuts are expected to largely stem from administrative or product development roles, as well as voluntary retirements at sites including Ford’s research and development centre  in Essex, the company’s UK headquarters, and its parts distribution center in Daventry.

“Making this announcement isn’t something that anybody wants to do, and I appreciate it will have a very significant impact on our employees,” said Lisa Brankin, managing director of Ford of Britain and Ireland. “It’s not the news anyone wants to hear at any time. So our aim is to try to deliver this through voluntary redundancy. The automotive industry is going through a period of massive disruption at the moment. We’ve got unprecedented competition, regulation and lots of economic headwinds.”

In addition to slashing 800 jobs in the UK, Ford is also planning to trim an additional 2,900 positions in Germany, as well as another 300 across the rest of Europe. Meanwhile, the government is seeking more information on the automaker’s cuts, telling BBC that it has “asked the company to urgently share its full plans so we can help mitigate the impact in the UK.”