For long time, there have been rumors that Ford Craiova tightens the belt, but now it is official and unavoidable. Practically, one out of five workers of the Ford factory in Craiova is about to be made redundant by the end of the current year.
Nevertheless, the situation is not as grim as it seems. In fact, Ford Romania is implementing a so-called “voluntary termination of contract” program. “The campaign” will be under development until December 18th and any employee can file for it by this given date. There are compensations: the 680 workers will get 16 to 24 compensation wages upon departure. And bearing in mind the fact that an average wage in the factory can be up to 2000 lei, the sum is quite significant.
After the personnel restructuring, there will be only 2500 employees left next year at the Ford Craiova Factory. The situation this year is not unprecedented: last year and two years ago, similar programs made 400 people redundant (for each year).
These measures don’t just “come out of the blue”. In the autumn of 2014, the European division of the American auto manufacturer Ford was assigned to Jim Farley, whose mission has been to reduce losses and to increase the global profit of the company. In Romania, during the first 10 months of the current year, under 46.000 units were produced, 27% less than last year in the same interval, according to information released by Ziarul Financiar.
Ford remains at the top of Romanians’ preferences, as they buy, rent and register the models of the company that a century ago made the car a mere commodity, accessible to the wide public, instead of a luxury item. At present, however, on the fiercely competitive worldwide market, tough measures must be implemented. Unfortunately, Ford Craiova will be among the first to feel its effects directly.