Ford boss: 40 per cent fewer jobs because of e-cars

Jim Farley, CEO of the US car manufacturer Ford, spoke a few days ago about the loss of jobs in connection with the production of electric cars: Specifically, the manufacturer needs a good 40 per cent fewer workers than in the assembly of fossil-fuelled vehicles. This is simply because electric cars are much simpler in design than vehicles with combustion engines and some components are no longer needed at all, such as the gearbox, or, as in the case of the machine, are far less complex in design.

What is a disadvantage for jobs is an advantage for customers: buyers appreciate e-cars because of this reduction in complexity, which significantly lowers repair and maintenance costs. Over the years, e-cars can gradually compensate for the cost disadvantage that initially arises from the higher purchase costs.

However, Farley also said Ford does not intend to lay off 40 per cent of its employees for this reason. Instead, they will be retrained to produce more components within Ford's structures. This increased internal vertical integration, however, is likely to have an impact on the labour market among suppliers.

For Ford, this would mean a swing back to its origins, as the Financial Times notes: a shift in corporate strategy towards greater vertical integration would return more closely to the company's beginnings, when founder Henry Ford owned forests, iron mines, limestone quarries and even a rubber plantation in Brazil, among other assets, to fully control the company's supply chain. "If Henry Ford came back to life, he would think the last 60 years weren't that exciting. But he would love it because we are completely reinventing the company," Farley said.