JLR dismiss Halewood job cuts claim

CAR maker Jaguar Land Rover has poured cold water on reports of mass cutbacks at its Halewood plant.

The manufacturer, which is operating round the clock amid continuing high demand for its vehicles such as the Evoque, employs 4,500 people at the plant in Speke.

It has branded reports in the Liverpool media that it is set to slash its workforce by as much as 700 as “ridiculous and wide of the mark”, and says it has not kept on some temporary staff hired previously.

In a strongly worded statement a spokesman for JLR said: “We are not losing 700 people, that is completely ridiculous and wide of the mark.

“We can confirm that we will not be retaining all of our agency colleagues who have joined us recently on temporary assignment.
 
“We have had four years of continuous growth at Halewood and each year we have retained the majority of agency workers, which is unprecedented and has helped us to more than treble our permanent Halewood team.  

“However, we can not continue to grow the permanent workforce indefinitely and must find our optimal operating level, for full volume production, this year to remain globally competitive.”
 
The spokesman dismissed suggestions of “angry scenes” at Halewood as workers employed by agency Manpower were told they were not being retained.

“The key point is that demand for our two vehicles is strong and we continue to operate on three shifts, 24 hours a day and our volume is heading towards a record number this year. Following the successful launch of our new Discovery Sport we have some exciting investment projects ahead of us and the new Evoque Convertible which will launch out of Halewood towards the end of the year.”

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