Ford plans 'to shed 3,200 jobs across Europe' 

Ford plans to cut up to 3,200 jobs across Europe and move some product development work to the US, Germany's IG Metall union has said, vowing action that would disrupt the carmaker across the continent if the cuts go ahead.

The company wants to axe up to 2,500 jobs in product development and up to 700 in administrative roles, with German locations most affected, IG Metall said.

Workers at the US carmaker's Cologne site, which employs about 14,000 people — including 3,800 at a development centre in the Merkenich area — were informed of the plans at works council meetings. 

A spokesperson at the car maker's headquarters in Michigan said discussions with the German works councils were continuing and that the company needs to be "more competitive" as it transitions to elecctic vehicles. 

Ford last year announced a $2bn (€1.84bn) investment to expand production at its Cologne plant to make an all-electric model for the mass market. The plant currently produces the Ford Fiesta as well as engines and transmissions.

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The carmaker, which employs about 45,000 people in Europe, is planning seven new electric models in the region, a battery assembly site in Germany and a nickel cell manufacturing joint venture in Turkey as part of a major electric push on the continent.

Tech job cuts

Meanwhile, Spotify has said it plans to cut 6% of its global workforce and would take a related charge of up to nearly $50m, adding to the massive layoffs in the technology sector in preparation for a possible recession.

The tech industry is facing a demand downturn after two years of pandemic-powered growth during which it had hired aggressively. That has led firms from Facebook-owner Meta Platforms to Microsoft to shed thousands of jobs.

"Over the last few months we've made a considerable effort to rein in costs, but it simply hasn't been enough," chief executive Daniel Elk said in a blog post announcing the roughly 600 job cuts.

Spotify's operating expenditure grew at twice the speed of its revenue last year as the audio-streaming company aggressively poured money into its podcast business, which is more attractive for advertisers due to higher engagement levels.

At the same time, businesses pulled back on ad spending on the platform, mirroring a trend seen at Meta and Google, as rapid interest rate hikes and the fallout from the war in Ukraine pressured the economy.

However, US stock indexes rose in the latest session as gains in shares of chipmakers helped ease pressure on the battered technology sector at the start of another big week for corporate earnings.

Investors are eyeing results from Microsoft, IBM, and Intel this week to see how their business are coping with the threat of an economic slowdown triggered by rising global interest rates. 

Shares in Qualcomm and Advanced Micro Devices climbed 4.5% and 7%, respectively, after Barclays upgraded their stocks.

"All those names and sectors (chipmakers) in general just got beat up much more than the market in general overall. So now in a lot of those names, there's value," said Jimmy Lee at Wealth Consulting Group. 

Reuters