Stacy94PGT

Ford to reduce outside staffers

Contract worker tally unspecified

BY SARAH A. WEBSTER
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER

Ford Motor Co., in the midst of eliminating 2,750 salaried position by year's end, also has been reviewing thousands of positions held by contract workers and will eliminate an unspecified number of those positions as well.

"There are some contractors," Ford spokesman Tom Hoyt said Thursday of the impending cuts.

He would not say how many contractors Ford employs through outside companies, sometimes called agencies.

Ford had about 6,500 contractors in 2001, a number that staffing firms say has shrunk to 4,000. They fill a variety of jobs in engineering and information technology departments.

"I can tell you that it's a normal part of the process to evaluate agency-related costs and positions when the company is, at the same time, scrutinizing its salaried" costs and positions, said Ford spokeswoman Marcey Evans. "As you well know, the company is going through that process right now. So, really, evaluating our agency-related costs would be a normal part of the process at a time like this."

Ford lost $907 million in its North American operations during the second quarter and has said it will announce another restructuring on Oct. 20, when it delivers its third-quarter earnings results. Of the 2,750 salaried positions Ford intends to cut by year's end, about 400 are expected to be forced layoffs.

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Stacy94PGT
My first car was a 67 Mustang Coupe, 2nd one was a 67 Cougar XR-7, 3rd one was a 66 Mustang Coupe. Why did I get rid of these cars for ? I know why, because I'm stupid, stupid, stupid.

My next Ford.....