Ford Temporarily Lays Off 700 Workers at F-150 Lightning Plant

In a surprising development, Ford is temporarily laying off approximately 700 workers responsible for assembling the F-150 Lightning, the electric variant of its highly popular pickup truck.

Unlike some recent layoffs tied to the ongoing strike by the United Auto Workers (UAW) union, this workforce reduction is unrelated to labour disputes.

The layoffs will occur at Ford’s Rouge Electric Vehicle Center located in Dearborn, Michigan, near the company’s main headquarters. One of the three shifts at the facility will be temporarily cut, and the layoffs will rotate among these shifts.

This move comes after Ford had previously temporarily shut down the plant during the summer to upgrade its production capabilities. According to the company, this latest round of layoffs is connected to various factors, including supply chain disruptions, addressing processing and delivery issues for vehicles held for quality checks, following the plant’s production restart in August.

Ford reported a 45% decline in F-150 Lightning sales in the third quarter compared to the previous year. Nevertheless, the automaker expects sales to rebound during the final quarter of the year as plant capacity increases take effect. Ford emphasized that the demand for its electric vehicle lineup overall remains robust, with a 65% increase in the third quarter.

The UAW’s targeted strike at multiple assembly plants across Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis has prompted all three companies to carry out layoffs. Last week, Ford announced an additional 500 layoffs across five component plants due to the UAW’s decision to expand the strike at its largest factory, the Kentucky Truck Plant. In total, these strikes could lead to up to 4,600 layoffs across various plants by the end of this week, in addition to the nearly 2,500 workers who were building the F-150 Lightning.

While most workers laid off due to the strike are ineligible for unemployment benefits in many states, F-150 Lightning workers facing temporary layoffs will be eligible for both unemployment benefits and “sub pay,” which companies provide to cover a portion of their regular pay. These two sources combined cover 74% of the workers’ normal pay while they are laid off, as confirmed by Ford spokesperson Jessica Enoch.

The UAW has disputed the companies’ claims regarding the necessity of laying off workers impacted by the strikes at other plants but confirmed that the affected workers are entitled to the same $500 weekly strike benefits as the approximately 35,000 employees currently on strike across the three automotive firms.

UAW President Shawn Fain has previously criticized the layoffs, stating, “That’s them trying to put the squeeze on our members to settle for less. With their record profits, they don’t have to lay off a single employee.”