Further deletions after 2020
Ford is currently undergoing Group restructuring in Germany. Due to the changes in the automotive industry, German boss Hermann ordered a long-term savings program. Even after the ongoing restructuring measures have been completed, personnel will continue to be reduced.
The current savings are “the first level to ensure a minimum profitability and to be in the black – and over the years there will certainly be further changes”, says Gunnar Herrmann, CEO of Ford Germany.
Ford needs fewer employees for e-cars
The reason is the switch from combustion engines to alternative drives, since fewer people are needed for the production of electric cars. A quarter of the personnel currently employed in production could be eliminated. This is “a realistic picture”.
Currently, around 24,000 employees work in Germany, 18,000 of them in Cologne and 6,000 in Saarlouis. By 2020, 5,400 jobs are to be cut, including temporary workers. The core workforce is to include severance payments, early retirement and part-time work for older employees – there will be no compulsory redundancies until 2022.
Jobs will continue to be cut after 2020: “If we reach our target figure in 2020, we have the potential for natural redundancies in Germany of the order of a thousand employees per year. And if we continue to do so for five years, that is an order of magnitude we are thinking about,” Herrmann said. Natural departures are the transfer of employees to other companies or to retirement.