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Reports from earlier this summer suggested that Ford may trim a number of jobs from its ranks as the company looks to restructure for the future. Now, a memo sent to employees confirms that the layoffs have indeed begun.
Ford will lay off approximately 3,000 people, The Wall Street Journal reports. These layoffs will see a reduction of about 2,000 internal salaried positions, in addition to about 1,000 agency positions. Representatives for Ford did not immediately return a request for comment, but a spokesperson told The Verge that the layoffs will focus more on the company's Ford Blue division, which covers the automaker's internal-combustion projects, as it remains the larger side of Ford's business.
"We are eliminating work, as well as reorganizing and simplifying functions throughout the business," wrote Chairman Bill Ford and CEO Jim Farley in a jointly written memo to employees, which The Verge posted in full in its report. The memo states that Ford will provide "significant help to find new career opportunities."
According to The Wall Street Journal, Ford is looking to cut approximately $3 billion in annual costs by 2026 with the goal of reaching a pretax profit margin of 10%. Last year, Ford's pretax profit margins hovered around 7.3%.
In March, Ford reorganized its business into two halves, which the automaker called its Ford Plus plan. Ford Blue will continue to focus on internal-combustion vehicles and reducing their development costs, while Ford Model E looks to the future with an eye toward EVs, software and connected-car tech. This is in addition to the Ford Pro division, which covers the automaker's commercial efforts.
