Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is set to cut the number of contract-agency workers it employs on its factory floor, after seeing a drop in sales.
The car giant has not confirmed how many roles are affected, but it is understood that over 1,000 jobs could be at risk, following a reported loss of £501m in three months after the pandemic affected profits.
The company had previously suspended production as a results of COVID-19, along with many other car manufacturers.
Coronavirus has had a substantial impact in the Chinese market from January and continues to restrict sales in Europe.
JLR said the decision was made “against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic”.
JLR chief executive Sir Ralf Speth said: “Jaguar Land Rover’s early action to transform its business meant that, as a company, we were on track to meet our full-year expectations and operational and financial targets before the pandemic hit in the fourth quarter.
“We also reacted quickly to the disruption caused by Covid-19. Our immediate priority has been the health and wellbeing of our people – and this remains the case as we have now begun the gradual, safe restart of our operations.”
The car-maker, based in Coventry has plants across the UK, in locations including Bromwich, Halewood and Solihull.
The company was previously in talks with the government to secure a loan of more than £1bn.
However it announced it has “taken the difficult decision to reduce the number of contract-agency employees in its manufacturing plants over the coming months”.
JLR said it was preparing for a gradual recovery as lockdown was slowly being lifted across the world.
The impact of the crisis and associated shutdowns led to JLR retail sales falling nearly 31% year-on-year between January and March, down to 109,869 units. It meant full financial year sales were down 12.1% over the 2018-19 period.
While globally demand for JLR products was down, a recovery is expected, because 89% of JLR’s global retailers are now either fully or partially open, and plants in Austria, Halewood, Slovakia and Solihull have restarted production.
The group has a UK workforce of around 32,000 and the cuts come after the loss of around 5,000 roles announced late last year.
Other carmakers including Bentley and Aston Martin have announced they will be cutting jobs in an effort to survive the economic consequences of the pandemic.
Coronavirus continues to wreak havoc on the motor industry, and our thoughts go out to all of those affected at this time, whether your career has suffered or/and you are struggling with financial hardship. We are now seeing more employers posting jobs on InAutomotive, so if this or similar news directly affects you, please take a look.
Image credit: Jaguar Land Rover media centre
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