Ford Motor Co. said Wednesday that about 38,000 of its hourly production workers have accepted buyouts or early retirement offers so far this year. The figure includes approximately 30,000 buyouts during the open enrollment period that concluded late Monday, plus about 8,000 who took deals offered at limited plants earlier this year. Faced with lower demand for its products, Ford had hoped that 25,000 to 30,000 workers would take one of eight packages so it could reduce manufacturing capacity to better match demand.
See "Ford: 38,000 Workers Have Taken Buyouts", Associated Press, MSN Money, November 28, 2006