Ford Motor Co. starts dismissing salaried workers to end losses

BLOOMBERG NEWS SERVICE • June 24, 2008 Ford Motor Co., the world's third-biggest automaker, began discharging North American salaried employees amid widening losses and an 11 percent plunge in U.S. vehicle sales this year. Dismissals began last week, spokesman Mark Truby said in an interview Monday, declining to give details. They're part of a June 5 plan to trim salaried expenses by 15 percent, which includes cutting contract jobs and not filling open positions. The automaker has relied mostly on buyouts in paring payrolls since 2002, when it began the first of three restructurings in five years. Sales of less-profitable small cars are rising as gasoline at more than $4 a gallon erodes demand for Ford's pickups and sport-utility vehicles. "Events are forcing them to change," said Mirko Mikelic, a senior portfolio manager... [read full story]