US carmaker Ford said on Friday it would seek to cut another 1,600 jobs at its plant near Valencia in eastern Spain, where it had already cut 1,100 jobs last year.
“At the plant, there is currently a surplus of around 1,600 workers,” a Ford Spain spokesman told AFP after management met with unions to outline their plan.
Of that amount, the auto giant said 626 will be “permanent layoffs,” while the other 966 will be layoffs with the possibility of rehiring in 2027″ when production of a new vehicle begins.
The UGT union said the layoff would affect a total of 1,622 employees at the Almussafes plant located about 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of Valencia.
In March 2023, Ford announced plans to cut around 1,100 jobs at the same plant as it moved to reorganize its European operations, angering Spain’s leftist government.
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The cuts came after Ford decided to stop production of the S-Max and Galaxy models at the site, the company told AFP at the time.
A month earlier, it had cut 2,300 jobs in Germany and 1,300 in Britain, representing about 10 percent of its European staff.
Ford said it wanted to create “a leaner, more competitive cost structure” so it could reduce models developed for the European market, focus on the profitable van segment and accelerate the transition to electric vehicles.
Like other automakers, Ford has decided to switch to electric vehicles, which requires huge investments in developing new technologies and equipping factories.
The cuts come as European concerns grow about the impact of substantial US subsidies for electric vehicles made in the country, which could prompt foreign automakers to shift to US production facilities.
Source: AFP