Jaguar Land Rover is set to cut more than 1,000 jobs in the UK after the company suffered a large financial loss as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
The manufacturer anticipates a maximum of 1,100 temporary contract-agency employees in its UK sites will lose their jobs as part of the firm’s cost-saving measures.
Although JLR had returned to profitability in the second and third quarters of the 2019/20 financial year, the fourth quarter brought the coronavirus pandemic and UK lockdown, resulting in a pre-tax profit loss of £501 million ($AUD915 million) for the company.
Sales of new JLR cars were down 30.9 per cent year-on-year in Q4 to 109,869 units, while full financial year sales fell 12.1 per cent to 508,659.
The firm already had cost-saving measures in place, but COVID-19 meant these actions needed to be increased, with a target now having been set for £3.5 billion of cumulative savings by 31 March 2021.
JLR chief executive Ralf Speth commented: “Jaguar Land Rover’s early action to transform its business meant that as a company we were on track to meet our full-year expectations and operational and financial targets before the pandemic hit in the fourth quarter.
“We also reacted quickly to the disruption caused by COVID-19. Our immediate priority has been the health and wellbeing of our people, and this remains the case as we have now begun the gradual, safe restart of our operations.”
He added: “Our operational fitness gives me confidence that we can weather this storm.
Tristan Shale-Hester