Jaguar Land Rover to cut 4000 jobs in savings drive

Jaguar Land Rover is cutting 4000 jobs across its global workforce in a bid to slash costs by £1.7 billion.

The cuts are largely expected to impact office roles, with the majority of job losses affecting its UK operations, where around 34,000 staff are based.

Chief executive PB Balaji said the group was “committed to supporting everyone with care, fairness and respect” throughout the process.

It comes as the firm continues its recovery from a major cyberattack that forced it to halt production last year, but sales have since remained under pressure amid intense competition from cheaper Chinese electric vehicles.

Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds has already ruled out any Government bailout.

Mr Balaji said: “The automotive industry faces significant challenges, with technological change amid intense competition and ongoing geopolitical uncertainty.

“Through our growth reimagined strategy, Jaguar Land Rover is moving decisively to strengthen competitiveness and position the business for long-term success.”

He added: “As part of this transformation, we will reduce our global workforce by around 4000 roles over the next two years.”

The business said over the weekend that it was launching a voluntary redundancy programme, mostly among its 26,000 salaried and management employees rather than production workers.

The company makes most of its cars in factories across the UK, including at Solihull, in the West Midlands, and Halewood, Merseyside.

Downing Street acknowledged the impact of the announcement but made clear the Government was standing by its refusal to consider a bailout.

Trade union Unite is due to join Mr Reynolds in meeting Jaguar Land Rover’s boss this week.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “While the cuts planned are not expected to impact the UK manufacturing footprint or its supply chain, we need to ensure no stone is left unturned to mitigate these job losses in the highly-skilled white collar workforce.”

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