Ford hosts job fair to entice workers with offers
Dozens of workers in canvas jackets, blue Ford-issued work shirts and ball caps strolled through a job fair hosted at UAW Local 600 in Dearborn early Friday, many stopping to get a soft drink and slice of pizza as they made their rounds.
Ford Motor Co. is trying to shed more than 8,000 of its 64,000 hourly workers in North America through a nationwide job-reduction program that is offering workers lucrative buyout and early-retirement deals. It’s expected that Ford would backfill many of those jobs with new workers earning a lower, second-tier of wages established under the labor contract reached last year with the UAW.
The window for workers to make up their mind on the offer is March 17, and Ford has been doing its best to encourage workers to go, including hosting job fairs like the one today at Local 600.
In the union hall, a room lined with fold-up tables hosted representatives from colleges, universities and various trades schools, such as those that teach truck-driving skills. Companies that were looking to hire workers or sell a franchise opportunity were also present, and their representatives made pitches to buy a Fantastic Sam’s or an H&R Block business.
Ken Ference, 38, a skilled worker at Rouge Stamping, said he has no intention of taking a buyout. He came to the job fair just to see what was available in the market and collect a bag of freebies: pens, candy and keychains.
Ference, a third-generation Ford employee with 13 years at Ford, has evaluated the offers available to him and concluded: “I’d just have to get a job in two years anyway.”
And he doubted he’d find one as good as the one he has now. Besides, he has faith that Ford is on the verge of a real turnaround, so he’s not eager to leave now.
“It should be all right,” he said of Ford’s future.
He believes many workers feel the way he does, too, and he doubted the company would hit its buyout target.
“It’s not going to be as many people taking it as they think,” he said.
