Ford's "Turnaround"
Ford Motor Company's recent announcement that it will cut 30,000 jobs and close 14 factories follows recent trends in the auto industry to scale back to become more competitive in the global economy. According to this article, when combined with the cutbacks proposed by other automakers, overall one third of the industry's employees will be cut (wow!). My concern about this turnaround is that it's the same management that's leading the charge. William Clay Ford, Jr., Henry's great-grandson, Ford Motor's current CEO is leading the way. Seems to me that they might be better served with an objective eye from the outside rather than counting on the same blood to transform the company.
On another note, the WSJ print edition (sorry, no link) had an interesting article regarding Ford's new buyout plan which includes free college tuition ($15,000), half salary (about $27,000) and health benefits for employees at its Edison, NJ truck plant who were recently laid off. Not a bad deal and certainly commendable to want to retrain employees for other careers rather than having them stay on the company dole as required under the collective bargaining agreement or unemployment.
