Ford Layoffs 2022: 580 US Workers Cut Amid $3.1 B Revenue Loss

As Ford (F) reported a $3.1 billion revenue loss for the first quarter of 2022, the automaker also announced that it would be cutting 580 employees from its workforce as part of a restructuring plan it put in place in early March.

The cuts will impact salaried and agency positions at the company as Ford separates its EV business and internal combustion engine-power vehicle business into two entities, the Detroit Free Press reported.

Ford spokesperson Monique Brentley told the Detroit News about the layoffs, “We continue to align staffing around the critical skills needed to deliver our products, services, and the Ford+ plan. 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.”

Brentley went on to say that through the restructuring plan, Ford is looking to reduce costs on the ICE business side with the EV business unit still evolving.

The Detroit News said the job cuts are in engineering. Affected employees were notified of the layoffs Wednesday, according to Automotive News.

When Ford revealed the split of the two business units back in March, it said that the move would bring changes to its workforce without indicating if there would be layoffs.

At the time, Kumar Galhotra, who is now the president of Ford Blue, the automaker’s ICE business unit, told investors in March, “As we move forward, there’s going to have to be a change in the skill mix. We will reduce skills in certain areas, and we’ll have to invest more in other areas. So nothing’s off the table and we’re going to work with our employees, with all our partners, to do this in a very integrated way.”

Ford CEO James D. Farley Jr. echoed Galhotra’s comments, saying that the ICE business was going to get “leaner.” He told the Detroit News at the time of the restructuring announcement, “We have too many people as we speak, in many parts of our ICE business. And so it will shift. But the most important shift will be the know-how and capability, the skills.”

But Farley said on Wednesday in a call with analysts as it released its Q1 earnings report that the company was hiring in some key areas.

“We're getting after our talent gap in key areas: EV engineering, software and autonomous driving technology. We have a very good start already, and we will continually be very aggressive on recruiting talent,” as reported by the Detroit News.

Eligible employees who were laid off from Ford will receive a benefits package, including severance equal to up to nine months’ pay and benefits based on service, Brentley said. The company, which employs more than 182,000 people globally, is also offering career transmission services to cut workers.

Ford announced revenues of $34.5 billion for the first quarter of 2022, with a net loss of $3.1 billion, which it attributed to its investment in electric truck maker Rivian. Rivian is ramping up for production of the fully electric R1T pickup truck.

The company also said that its EV business is on track for 600,000 units by late 2023. Ford officially launched the 2022 F-150 Lightning pickup on Tuesday, already halting reservations of the truck due to high demand.

As of Monday, premarket hours, shares of Ford were trading at $14.95, up 10 cents, or 0.67%.