(Bloomberg) -- Logistics company DHL International GmBH plans to lay off as many as 2,200 U.K. workers based at Jaguar Land Rover factories in the latest blow to automotive jobs in the nation.
About two in five of the DHL employees at JLR's U.K. factories face dismissal, the union Unite said in a statement Tuesday. DHL linked about half of the reductions to lower car production and attributed the rest to “efficiency savings,” according to the labor group, which vowed to protect as many jobs as possible.
The layoffs at DHL, owned by Deutsche Post AG, follow JLR's announcement last month that as many as 1,100 contract jobs would be cut across the carmaker's plants. Other automakers have also cut staff as the industry slashes costs to cope with lower sales following the Covid-19 outbreak.
“We are now in consultation with our employees and their representatives and will make every effort to redeploy as many colleagues as possible to our other operations nationwide,” a DHL spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “This proposal is based solely on the commercial challenges affecting the global automotive sector, and in no way reflects on the service levels delivered on the contract in recent years.”
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings, Manchester-based vehicle-distributor Lookers Plc and supercar maker McLaren Group Ltd. have all announced layoffs in recent weeks. Jaguar Land Rover said in a statement that it was informed by DHL that the logistics company had entered into a consultation with some of its workers last month.
“Jaguar Land Rover is taking action to optimize performance and achieve further operational efficiencies to enable sustainable growth and safeguard the long-term success of our business,” the company said in its statement.
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