Minister to Meet Jaguar Land Rover Boss as Thousands of Job Cuts Expected

Jaguar Land Rover has opened a voluntary redundancy programme as the car maker faces tariff pressures, falling sales and the continuing fallout from a cyberattack that halted production for more than a month last year. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds is due to meet JLR executives and Unite representatives to discuss the impact of the expected cuts.

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mitigate any job losses

JLR has not disclosed how many jobs could go. The Times reported that as many as 4,000 positions may be lost, with white-collar workers believed to be most affected. The company said the programme would simplify its business, improve efficiency and build greater resilience. It did not rule out compulsory redundancies.

Reynolds told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that the meeting would focus on ways to “mitigate any job losses.” He rejected a bailout, saying there would be no support “if it’s to bail people out,” but left open the possibility of long-term investment in the company’s future.

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a huge British success story

The minister described JLR as “a huge British success story” and said employment levels could change during different stages of a company’s business cycle. He also defended efforts to give the automotive industry more flexibility under the UK’s electric vehicle sales target, which requires manufacturers to sell a growing share of zero-emission cars, reaching 80% by 2030.

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if it’s to bail people out

The cuts come as Chancellor John Healey prepares to speak in the Midlands about boosting growth through changes to how the government values infrastructure investment in transport and housing. JLR is based in Coventry, in the West Midlands. Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham said the union had warned about a “perfect storm” in the automotive industry and that “death by a thousand cuts” had continued under successive governments.

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Death by a thousand cuts has been going on under the nose of successive governments