Restructuring events
European Restructuring Monitor (ERM)
The restructuring events database contains factsheets with data on large-scale restructuring events reported in the principal national media and company websites in each EU Member State. This database was created in 2002.
Car manufacturer Ford announced that it will cut 2,750 jobs at is plant in Saarlouis.
The background of this internal restructuring is the end of production at Saarlouis that Ford has been in planning for over a year. On 07 February 2024, news sources reported that the German Metalworkers' Union and Ford management have agreed on a social plan for the Saarlouis site. Ford union members still have to vote on the plan but the accord includes the following details:
From the 3,750 employees working for Ford in Saarlouis, 1,000 will keep their jobs until 2032. All other jobs will be shed by the end of November 2025 when Ford wants to shut down the production line of the Ford Focus. Whilst compulsory redundancies were ruled out until the end of 2032, the company wants to offer affected employees partial retirement schemes, severance pay and placement in a transfer agency.
Already in 2023, job cuts at other sites in Germany (Aachen and Cologne) were made public (Ford-2023-DE). The job cuts are part of worldwide restructuring scheme of the US company. In 2023, Ford had announced to shift its production lines in Europe to electrical vehicles only (Ford-2023-WO).
Updated, 5/11/24 According to the latest information, 700 employees have already left through severance packages between April and June. Another 380 employees are expected to leave the company by the end of January 2025.
Eurofound (2024), Ford, Internal restructuring in Germany, factsheet number 200814, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://dev.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/200814.
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