Ford begins layoffs
The effort started Thursday night, when more than 200 contract employees were called at home and told to hand in their badges the following day at their agency offices, a worker with knowledge of the plan told the Detroit Free Press. She did not want to be identified for fear of repercussions.
Another round of cuts for agency employees — a group that includes engineers, designers and secretaries, among others — is slated for Thursday, June 26, she said.
Ford goes on its regularly scheduled summer shutdown the following week, and when workers return the week of July 7, they can expect to begin learning who among them will lose their job involuntarily. The dismissals are to be carried out through Aug. 1.
"The pink slips are coming after shutdown," the worker said. "We all packed up. I took everything I had here of mine home."
Ford spokesman Mark Truby confirmed that there have been "some agency personnel reductions," but he declined to provide a number or say when salaried reductions might begin. He said the target date for all reductions is Aug. 1. Detroit Free Press