Ford - employees by region 2018

The Ford Motor Company had nearly 200,000 people on the payroll worldwide in 2018, and around 100,000 employees were based in North America, Ford’s largest region in terms of employees.

Link between automotive trade and employment

Strict automotive trading rules mean that, if Ford wants to sell cars to their largest market, the automotive manufacturer must produce parts and vehicles in North America. In both Canada and the United States, the Ford brand is the most popular brand of light vehicle. Changes can be expected when NAFTA makes way for the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which has not been ratified yet. Under the new agreement, a higher percentage of parts used in vehicle manufacturing must be North American, potentially safeguarding many of Ford’s 100,000 North American workers. New vehicles also must be made by a higher percentage of well-paid workers.

Impact on affordability

This is likely to add to the already increasing cost of producing vehicles in the U.S., potentially exacerbating weak sales figures. Better pay and heavy investments into automation may reduce the costs of domestically producing vehicles over time, but this is usually accompanied by reducing the workforce.