Ford Motor Co. is cutting roughly 580 U.S salaried employees and agency workers after reporting a $3.1 billion first-quarter loss, the company confirmed Wednesday night.
The cuts include approximately 350 salaried and 230 agency positions, the reductions occurred largely in engineering, as the company shifts from vehicles with traditional internal combustion engines to electric cars and trucks that requires different skill sets.
“We continue to align staffing around the critical skills needed to deliver our products, services, and the Ford+ plan. As part of the ongoing management of our business, we will continue to align our staffing to meet our future business needs and plans,” the company said.
The Detroit automaker confirmed impacted employees and the agencies for the non-Ford employees, as the loss largely came in value of a 12% stake in EV start-up – Rivian Automotive.
The automaker company said eligible employees will still receive benefits continuation up to 9 months of pay based on service and “career transition services.”
The employee cuts are only about 1% of the automaker’s roughly 31,000 U.S. salaried workforce. As of end year, Ford had 186,769 employees globally, with 90,873, or 48.7%, hourly and salaried workers located in the U.S.