UPDATE Ford Restruturing Further

from WDIV Detroit TV 4

Ford Motor Co., the nation's No. 2 automaker, said it will offer buyouts to all of its hourly workers, cut 10,000 more salaried jobs and shut down two more plants in an effort to restore it to profitability. The company's already cut 4,000 salaried positions in the first quarter of this year. Most of the remaining salaried job cuts are to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2007, eliminating a total of about a third of Ford's salaried positions.

It expects to cut 25,000 to 30,000 manufacturing jobs in North America by 2008, four years ahead of its previous target. Ford's plan includes shutting down a stamping plant in Maumee, Ohio, and an engine plant in Essex, Ontario. That would boost plant closings from seven to nine.
The moves are part of a broader restructuring plan aimed at restoring the automaker's to profitability. Ford expected its so-called "Way Forward" plan to trim ongoing operating costs by about $5 billion a year.