Jaguar Land Rover to cut U.K. workforce

Less than three months after announcing a temporary cut in production at its Halewood plant, Jaguar Land Rover is to announce cuts to temporary roles in one of its British plants in the face of “continuing headwinds,” facing the car industry.

The Tata Motors-owned carmaker said it remained committed to its U.K. plants, and would continue to recruit engineers, graduates and apprentices, but would be making adjustments to its production schedule and level of agency staff as part of regular reviews to ensure market demand was balanced globally.

While the company did not release a figure, the U.K. media, including Reuters, reported that up to 1,000 jobs would be shed and production would be cut at its Solihuall and Castle Bromwich plants. Solihull is home to the Jaguar XE, the Range Rover, the Land Rover Discovery, and the Range Rover Sport, and currently employs more than 10,000 people. Castle Bromwich is home to a number of Jaguar vehicles, including the XE, the XF and the F-Type

The announcement will fuel debate on the impact of Brexit on industry, after the company pointed to the uncertainty around leaving the EU, alongside the challenges facing diesel, when announcing the “temporary adjustments” to its production schedules at Halewood (home to the Range Rover Evoque and Land Rover Discovery Sport) in January.

2017, the best year

This was despite the firm recording its best year to date in 2017, with 6.2 lakh units sold. In Britain, there are fears for the future of the auto industry, which is heavily reliant on its EU supply chain, and customer base.

“This is desperately bad news for all those affected and a worrying sign of how the deep uncertainty around Brexit is continuing to damage Britain’s economic performance,” said Peter Kyle MP, a member of the pro-Remain, Open Britain campaign, condemning the government’s decision to rule out single market and customs union membership.