JLR job cuts a cause for uncertainty and worry

News that Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) was to cut 4,000 jobs was a cause for uncertainty and stress for company workers and those in the wider supply chain, experts have said.

Prof David Bailey from the Birmingham Business School said he worried it could limit the company’s ability to innovate in the future while David Roberts, chairman of Coventry-based Evtec Group, said up to 200,000 jobs could be tied to JLR.

The cuts will happen over the next two years and will mostly affect the head office in Whitley, Coventry.

But there are concerns about the impact the job cuts will have on the West Midlands’ skill base.

“The danger there is, in part, if they cut for example too many workers in research and development that could affect their future ability to develop new cars,” Bailey said.

“So it’s a really critical phase for the company and there’s going to be real concern at the firm about what’s happening.”

He said he understood JLR was facing a range of issues, but cutting the workforce was risky.

“When margins are squeezed, companies cut costs and investment; when investment is delayed, the UK becomes less competitive; and when competitiveness falls, future investment increasingly goes elsewhere,” he said.

Bailey said the British motor industry needed government help to compete in the electric car market and it was crucial to more than jobs on the factory floor.

He said: “It anchors research and development, engineering capability, component suppliers and regional economies.

“Once those capabilities disappear, they are extremely difficult to recreate.”