Ford Motor Co. is offering buyouts to some salaried employees in the U.S. as part of a bid to eliminate about 1,000 positions as it looks to better align staffing with needed skills, the Dearborn automaker confirmed Thursday.
"We have offered a voluntary separation program to eligible U.S. salaried employees in select skill teams," the company said in a statement Thursday in response to an inquiry from The Detroit News. "This action is to further enable us to match our business priorities with the critical skills needed to turnaround our automotive operations and deliver the Ford+ plan."
In May, the automaker unveiled a new growth plan dubbed "Ford+." The plan looks to leverage electrification, digital connectivity and commercial vehicles as Ford attempts to move to a new business model that emphasizes regular interactions with customers over infrequent transactions. The automaker, under CEO Jim Farley, is looking to tap into new, reoccurring revenue streams from data-driven, digitally-enabled services.
As such, the Blue Oval has been beefing up its ranks in key areas such as software development. An executive earlier this year said the automaker had added about 600 software designers and data scientists in the last year. And the company recently has been on a high-level hiring spree, bolstering its senior leadership ranks with politically connected policy experts.
The automaker also is leaning heavily into electrification. Earlier this year, it increased its investment in electrification to $30 billion through 2025. And on Thursday, as the Biden administration was poised to announce stricter mileage and emissions standards, Ford joined its crosstown rivals in saying they will aim for at least 40% of their sales to be electric vehicles by 2030.
"We are reshaping our workforce to match the critical skills and positions needed to continue to transform our business," a Ford spokesperson, Monique Brentley, said in a statement. "Staffing adjustments, including hiring and separations, are part of a multiyear process to align talent with our cycle and service plan and to turn around our automotive operations."
Ford did not specify when asked by The News how many employees are eligible for this latest round of buyouts, saying only that the program is open to "eligible U.S. salaried employees in select departments." When asked whether layoffs would be a possibility if fewer than the targeted number of employees opt into the program, Ford said the "goal is to achieve the needed efficiencies with the voluntary program."
The automaker also did not specify the program's start and end dates, but said the program offers a lump-sum cash severance payment and "certain benefits continuations" for employees who take the buyout. Severance and benefits will be provided for up to six months, depending on the employee's years of company service.
Last September, the company announced voluntary buyouts with the goal of cutting 1,400 white-collar jobs. News of the latest round of voluntary buyouts first was reported by the Ford Authority blog.
