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.
US car manufacturer Ford announced its intention to close three production sites in Europe: Genk in Belgium (see here), and two plants in the UK - Southampton and Dagenham (see here). The restructuring will affect 1,400 employees in the UK and 4,300 in Belgium. Adding 500 job cuts that Ford had announced a few weeks earlier, the company will cut 6,200 jobs in Europe. This accounts for around 13% of the company's European workforce. Through this restructuring, the group will reduce its production capacity by around 18% in Europe (355,000 cars a year) and save between US $450 and US $500 million per year.
It is reported that the management aims to avoid compulsory dismissals in the UK and expects voluntary departures.
According to the UK trade union GMB the jobs may be offshored to plants in Turkey (Ford Otosan at Kocaeli) and in Russia (Saint Petersbourg).
Eurofound (2012), Ford, Internal restructuring in European Union, factsheet number 74308, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://dev.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/74308.
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