The Spark

the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist

“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx

Ford Takes Tax Break, Lays off 3,000

Aug 29, 2022

During the week of August 22, Ford Motor laid off 3,000 white-collar workers—2,000 Ford employees and 1,000 contract workers, a “significant” percentage in Michigan. Others are in Canada and India. Ford said their skills were not relevant to the new electric-vehicle world.

Two months before, Ford execs and Michigan’s governor together announced Ford’s 2-billion-dollar investment plans in Michigan. The governor said that as long as Ford created 3,030 new hourly jobs, Ford would get over 100 million dollars in tax credits from the state.

Ford will still claim the tax breaks, even after laying off 3,000 workers, because the deal was for creating hourly jobs—and only salaried workers were laid off! A Ford spokesperson said callously, “So net-net, we’re adding more jobs to Michigan.”

You can bet that all of this was quietly understood by all parties at the time. Back in March, Bloomberg News had reported Ford’s plans to soon lay off up to 8,000 salaried workers.

These are workers with valuable computer skills. But Ford prefers to hire younger workers with more up-to-date training and lower salary demands. The 3,000—and more to come—have to face all the stress, uncertainty, and loss when their job suddenly disappears.