I can't help but wonder what these cuts' purpose even is. Simple mathematics:
8K people
Average 150K in salary/benefits per year (it's an arbitrary number, but a pretty decent approximation if you know Ford's salary bands - they're available publicly). If cut from Blue only, that's way more than the 1/4 of the workforce you often see quoted (31K white collar employees, but that's split between Blue and Model E, so take away Model E employees as safe and Blue has...20K? 25K? Let's assume it's 25K for the purpose of this exercise).
=
$1.2 billion saved per year. Those of you in the know will recognize this as barely covering a major vehicle's midcycle refresh. Over five years you might cover two major vehicle programs.
If the goal is to trim the fat, let's say for the sake of argument that happens perfectly and only employees who were performing below capacity are let go. We know that's not going to be true, but imagine you're only leaving 100% performers and letting go of people who were operating at the low, low number of 50% of productivity. You've effectively let go 4K people, not 8K. Cool.
Assuming of our original 25K employees, 17K are now left, you are asking 17K to do the work of 21K (though likely more). That's a 25% increase in responsibilities for EVERYONE ACROSS THE BOARD. Assuming only a few of the remaining people will see promotions come out of this exercise, employee satisfaction will [continue to] plummet. Remember, you as management have now left yourself surrounded only by high achievers. You don't think they'll demand higher pay for doing more work? You don't think they will leave for greener pastures in droves (as they're already doing)?
So. Can anyone please explain to me how in G-d's ar-e this makes any sense whatsoever?