Over the past couple of years a number of carmakers have signalled an intent to fully electrify fleets, with many using 2030 as its milestone. While it remains to be seen whether the carmakers can indeed keep to those timelines, it looks like such plans could involve collateral damage.

This as a report by Bloomberg (paywall) suggests Ford is looking to cut as many as 8 000 jobs in order to help fund new initiatives in the electric vehicle space.

According to the report, the loss of jobs would be within Ford’s Blue division, which is primarily concerned with internal combustion engine projects.

With the company continuing to invest in electrification, many of the positions within the Blue division would be redundant, with those in the United States in particular being affected.

As Engadget points out, this reported move follows a decision taken by Ford in March of this year, where the company essentially split into two divisions – Blue and Electric (Model E).

The latter division has seen two high profile announcements like the Mach E SUV, pictured above and featured in the video below, along with an electric version of its Lightning pickup truck.

As a part of the aforementioned split, Ford said it was looking to trim as much as $3 billion in costs. “We have laid out clear targets to lower our cost structure to ensure we are lean and fully competitive with the best in the industry,” Ford’s CCO Mark Truby told Bloomberg in a statement earlier this year.

At the time of writing Ford is yet to comment on the report, but as the company shows no signs of pivoting from its electrification plans, it appears as if the estimated 31 000 US workers employed the company will see dramatic reductions.

What impact this will have on Ford’s operations in other parts of the globe, which include a sizeable assembly plant here in Silverton, remains unclear for now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAf9_3F0X6E