U.S. carmaker Ford is set to axe 1,000 jobs at its plant in Cologne in 2026, the firm said on Tuesday, citing weak demand for electric vehicles.
Production in the western German city would switch from two-shift operation to single-shift operation from January, Ford said.
The move is coming less than a year after announcing plans to implement widespread cost-cutting measures at the location.
This led workers at Ford’s facilities in Cologne to stage a historic first strike in May, bringing production largely to a standstill as they pushed back against the planned job cuts.
The walk-out was the first to take place in almost 100 years of operation since 1930 in Cologne.
It was only some two weeks ago that the workforce in Cologne paved the way for the planned austerity measures.
About 93.5 per cent of the workers backed a compromise agreed upon by the IG Metall trade union and management in July.
As per the plans proposed in 2024, no fewer than 2,900 jobs are expected to be cut by the end of 2027, about one in four at Ford Cologne.
Employees who leave voluntarily can expect fairly high severance payments if their jobs are relocated because the division is being sold and continued by another company, so they would not be worse off.
However, Tuesday’s announcement would raise the planned number of cuts by up to 1,000, with the exact number yet to be determined in talks with workforce representatives, the carmaker said.
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