Ford cuts Philippine office staff by 15 percent
12/08/2008 | 06:31 PM
MANILA, Philippines — Ford Motor Co. has cut its office staff in the Philippines by 15 percent in a restructuring program, a company official said Monday.
Some 29 employees, including six managers, out of total of 200 office-based staff accepted separation packages under a redundancy program that took effect Nov. 30, Ford Philippines Vice President for Human Resources Emmanuel dela Paz said.
Dela Paz said Ford is doing better in the Philippines this year compared to last year, but the restructuring was in line with a region-wide directive to cut operating costs and make operations more efficient. In the Philippines, the goal is to bring down fixed costs by 20 percent, he said.
Dela Paz said the move was not linked to the slowdown in the United States.
"This is different from what happened in the U.S.," he said. "We started doing this even before the U.S. financial crisis hit."
He said the company solicited volunteers from interested staffers, and no one was fired or retrenched.
Ford has some 700 people in the Philippines, including office-based employees and 500 plant workers. Only office-based staffers were included in the redundancy program.
In the U.S., Bush administration officials and congressional Democrats were working over the weekend on a deal to provide about $15 billion in loans to GM, Ford and Chrysler.- AP
Some 29 employees, including six managers, out of total of 200 office-based staff accepted separation packages under a redundancy program that took effect Nov. 30, Ford Philippines Vice President for Human Resources Emmanuel dela Paz said.
Dela Paz said Ford is doing better in the Philippines this year compared to last year, but the restructuring was in line with a region-wide directive to cut operating costs and make operations more efficient. In the Philippines, the goal is to bring down fixed costs by 20 percent, he said.
Dela Paz said the move was not linked to the slowdown in the United States.
"This is different from what happened in the U.S.," he said. "We started doing this even before the U.S. financial crisis hit."
He said the company solicited volunteers from interested staffers, and no one was fired or retrenched.
Ford has some 700 people in the Philippines, including office-based employees and 500 plant workers. Only office-based staffers were included in the redundancy program.
In the U.S., Bush administration officials and congressional Democrats were working over the weekend on a deal to provide about $15 billion in loans to GM, Ford and Chrysler.- AP
