Ford Motor Co. intends to trim hundreds of jobs from its salaried workforce in the next several months as part of a cost-cutting effort.
The Dearborn, Mich., auto giant said in a statement that it planned to use voluntary buyouts to reduce "salaried costs and personnel levels in North America and Asia Pacific" by 10 percent this year. The Detroit News reported that 1,400 salaried positions would be cut in those regions by the end of September.
Hourly production jobs in the company's plants will not be impacted by the decision, and the automaker said that four "skill teams" — Ford Credit, product development, information technology and global data and analytics — will also be spared as the company bolsters its efforts in electric vehicles and automation.
The segments that will face cuts, the paper reported, include communications, corporate staff, finance, government affairs, legal, marketing, purchasing, sales and service. Those departments account for more than 11,000 salaried employees in North America — 9,600 of which are in the U.S. — and more than 4,000 in the Asia Pacific region.
It's unclear how many jobs could be on the chopping block in the U.S.
The News noted that Ford is under increasing pressure from investors as vehicle sales lag and company officials anticipate lower profits.
