In fact, there is talk that they could do without between 2,500 and 4,000 workers of product development. It is a very outstanding figure considering that in this area they currently employ 6,250 people in Europe. The situation of the Merkenich technical center is also worrisome, where 2,500 of the 3,800 workers they have could be fired. The reason is that these are the facilities where the Ford Fiesta and Focus have been brought to life, which are being phased out. At Ford headquarters in Cologne there is also talk of cutting 20% the labor force and that there they will make their first electric with the Volkswagen MEB platform.
Following the cuts, there has also been talk of some at the Ford research center in Aachen (Germany) and at the brand’s technical center in Dunton (United Kingdom). It’s one of the collateral damage from electrification, which requires less resources because almost all the vehicles will be based on the same base. It seems that it will be throughout February when the numbers of these cuts will be officially announced to the workers, although there is already some union movementwho want to ensure that it is a fair process.
