The Daily Money: Ford Motor Co. initiates layoffs
Welcome to Monday! It's Charisse Jones with the Daily Money headlines to help kick off your week.
Ford Motor Co. has cut some contractors and plans to lay off some salaried company employees this week according to the Detroit Free Press, part of the Paste BN Network.
Workers employed by outside agencies were told last Friday that their stints with the car maker were over, Ford confirmed to the Detroit Free Press.
"People in certain agency positions across a few skill teams were notified by their employers that their assignments at Ford have ended," Ford spokesman T.R. Reid told the Free Press. "The changes are consistent with the Ford+ plan ‒ aligning capabilities and roles with product and service priorities and, in the process, reducing costs."
Reid did not provide numbers on how many employees had been let go.
Ford staffers are also expected to experience job cuts with several hundred white-collar employees in North America being laid off as soon as Monday, according to a source with knowledge of the situation who spoke to the Detroit Free Press but who was not authorized to speak publicly.
In a report last week, the Free Press said the staff layoffs were likely to focus on the Ford Blue and Model e units, sections that design and put together internal combustion vehicles. Employees in Ford Pro commercial, a separate, third unit were not slated to be impacted by this round of cuts.
Despite Titanic submersible implosion, extreme tourism is likely to continue
Virgin Galactic is slated to launch its first commercial spaceflight this week, a sign that extreme tourism will continue despite the implosion of a Titanic tourist submersible that led to five deaths and riveted attention across the globe.
Galactic 01, Virgin Galactic’s first commercial spaceflight, is a scientific research mission scheduled to operate between June 27 and 30. A second expedition, Galactic 02, is set to happen in early August and will be the company's first private astronaut flight. There will be monthly missions from then on.
Interest in extreme tourism is unlikely to take a noticeable dip in the wake of the Titanic submersible tragedy because people "typically have short memories,'' says Texas A&M University professor James Petrick, who studies tourists’ buying habits.
“I don't expect it to slow down,” Petrick said. “There's going to be an awareness to it that it might not have had before, so it might actually increase possible motivation for some people.”
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🍔 Today's Menu 🍔
It's going to be an extra hot summer for Taco Bell fans. The fast food chain is bringing back its popular Volcano menu, offering the Volcano Taco, Volcano Burrito and Lava Sauce for the first time in seven years. Everyone can buy the spicy treats starting Thursday, while Taco Bell Rewards members can tap the Taco Bell app beginning Tuesday to purchase the new menu items which will be available for a limited time.
Each weekday, The Daily Money delivers the best consumer news from Paste BN. We break down financial news and provide the TLDR version: how decisions by the Federal Reserve, government and companies impact you.