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Mix-Ansicht- WSJ: Ford and Chrysler Plan Big Job Cuts (E) - El Sheik, 01.10.2003, 09:36
WSJ: Ford and Chrysler Plan Big Job Cuts (E)
-->WSJ: Ford and Chrysler Plan Big Job Cuts
By JOSEPH B. WHITE and NORIHIKO SHIROUZU
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Ford Motor Co. is planning to eliminate a total of about 12,000 jobs world-wide, while DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler unit is readying its own plans to cut several thousand jobs in the latest fallout from the intense competitive pressure on Detroit's auto makers.
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The cutbacks at the No. 2 and No. 4 auto makers come as the ink is barely dry on new master labor agreements with the United Auto Workers and at a time when unemployment is damping consumer confidence and becoming a presidential-campaign issue. The UAW agreements will allow Detroit's Big Three to eliminate as many as 50,000 jobs through a combination of buyouts and normal attrition over the next four years, analysts have estimated. But Ford and Chrysler, which are both in the midst of difficult restructuring programs, are signaling that they want to accelerate the pace of cost cutting heading into next year.
Ford has vowed to earn 70 cents a share for the full year 2003 and to boost pretax profit to $7 billion annually by the middle of the decade following losses totaling $6.4 billion in the past two years.
Chrysler had once hoped to report operating profit of as much as $2 billion this year, but now is scrambling to break even following a $1.1 billion second-quarter loss.
General Motors Corp. has fared better than its crosstown rivals, but its North American automotive profit in the second quarter was a scant $83 million on $28.6 billion in revenue. Overall, GM made more money selling mortgages than cars in the second quarter.
Fierce competition from foreign rivals and the costs of the U.S. auto market's grinding price war will force all three companies to shed thousands of jobs in coming years despite signs that the U.S. economy is improving. The scale of the cuts by the auto powerhouses promises to add fuel to the debate in Washington over the loss of U.S. manufacturing jobs.
Ford is expected to announce soon a series of moves that will reduce its global work force of 350,000 by about 3%. The cuts include about 3,000 jobs world-wide that will be eliminated as Ford moves to shrink production to fit demand in various markets, according to people knowledgeable of the company's plans.
In addition, Ford is planning to eliminate as many as 3,000 salaried positions in North America by laying off contractors, eliminating currently vacant positions and laying off about 50 people.
Ford has also confirmed plans to cut 1,700 jobs in Europe. Some of the North American salaried job cuts were reported in Tuesday's Detroit Free Press.
Ford top management this summer ordered 10% cuts in total salaried costs by the end of this year. These moves, combined with other actions, such as caps on salaried overtime, will achieve that goal, people familiar with the company's plans said.
As part of its contract with the UAW, Ford also secured the UAW's agreement to allow it to shutter four U.S. factories, sell or close a fifth and reduce employment at others. In addition, Ford will close a Canadian truck-assembly plant. About 5,000 jobs in total will be struck off the Ford payroll as a result. UAW-Ford employees ratified the contract Tuesday.
Separately, Chrysler is preparing to offer early-retirement packages to thousands of U.S. workers under provisions of its just-ratified four-year UAW contract.
Chrysler and the UAW are forming a task force to discuss how to offer voluntary buyouts to UAW skilled-trades workers at the company's U.S. plants. The task force is expected to be in place by Nov. 1, but it will take a few months to decide how buyouts will be offered, a company spokesman said. The Detroit News reported Tuesday that Chrysler will seek to move as many as 5,000 skilled-trades workers off the payroll with buyouts. Chrysler didn't confirm that figure. Chrysler is offering buyouts to workers at several parts factories it plans to close.
Chrysler told the UAW during contract talks that it wanted to close or sell as many as nine U.S. factories. Chrysler also is pushing hard to close the gap between its North American manufacturing productivity and that of rivals GM and Toyota Motor Corp. (7203), the No. 3 auto maker. As productivity improves, Chrysler's current 60,000 hourly work force will shrink unless the auto maker can reverse its recent market-share losses.
GM, meanwhile, is still awaiting contract ratification from its UAW employees. But the company and the UAW have disclosed an agreement to close a plant in Baltimore at the cost of about 1,100 jobs. More significant for GM is the flexibility the new agreement allows for the company to cut its work force by attrition as it improves productivity. About half of GM's active UAW work force of 118,000 members will be eligible to retire in the next five years. GM last year improved manufacturing productivity in North America by 7.4%.
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