Ford To Slash Up To 20,000 Jobs Worldwide

Ford will cut up to 10 per cent of its global workforce in an effort to cut $3 billion in costs in the midst of falling car sales and increased spending on advanced technologies.

The Wall Street Journal broke the story and claims that the automaker will detail up to 20,000 job losses this week. It is thought that most of the cuts will target salaried employees.

Since Mark Fields became Ford’s chief executive in 2014, company shares have fallen by nearly 40 percent. Additionally, Ford’s profits have slowed in recent months as demand for cars drops.

The company has also set aside $4.5 billion to develop a fleet of electrified vehicles, and intends on launching its first autonomous car in 2021.

Ford has yet to confirm the veracity of the report but released the following statement:

“We remain focused on the three strategic priorities that will create value and drive profitable growth, which include fortifying the profit pillars in our core business, transforming traditionally underperforming areas of our core business and investing aggressively, but prudently, in emerging opportunities. Reducing costs and becoming as lean and efficient as possible also remain part of that work. We have not announced any new people efficiency actions, nor do we comment on speculation.”