Job cuts set to hit Ford in Warley (From Thurrock Gazette)
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Job cuts set to hit Ford in Warley
11:32am Thursday 27th September 2012 in News
A WAVE of job losses looks set to hit Ford's offices in Warley as the motor giant makes efficiency savings.
Up to 275 jobs are set to go at the site in Eagle Way and at the companies plant in Dunton, near Basildon.
The job losses announced yesterday, which will be on a voluntary basis, are part of plans to axe 500 jobs across Europe.
Union bosses from Unite have called for “full involvement in the negotiations” about the job losses, which will affect managerial, supervisory and engineering staff.
The job losses come as the company faces massive losses.
Roger Maddison, Unite’s national officer for the automotive industry, said: “We had a meeting with the company on Tuesday and we stressed two main points.
“Firstly, that the work these employees are doing is not, at some future stage, outsourced from the UK. We are also concerned there is a coherent business case in going forward.
“We don’t want the remaining managerial and engineering staff having excess workloads imposed on them once their colleagues have left the
company.
“Naturally, we don’t like any loss of employment and we will be negotiating the best possible redundancy packages for those wishing to leave.”
Ford has said it has “excess capacity” in the areas where the redundancies will be made.
A spokesman said: “As part of an ongoing review to achieve greater efficiencies in all areas of Ford of Europe in the current business environment, Ford is implementing three programmes – one in
Germany, one in the UK, and a third for the rest of Europe – to reduce personnel-related costs.
“The reductions will be achieved through a combination of voluntary Ford salaried staff separations, and reductions in expenditure on agency workers and purchased services.
“Ford of Europe expects the programs to result in the reduction of several hundred salaried positions, but exact figures won’t be known for a few months.
“Any Ford salaried staff separations across all three programmes will be purely voluntary.”
Ford currently employs 15,000 workers in the UK.
