Business Channel 2006-09-18&21

（单词翻译）

Ford¹ has unveiled a new and even more aggressive restructuring plan. The company hopes to save five billion dollars by the end of 2008, and that would be four years earlier than originally planned. The carmaker is offering buyouts to all 75,000 of its hourly employees. It will also eliminate 10,000 more salaried positions. That's on top of 4,000 salaried jobs that were cut earlier this year. And Ford will close two more plants in addition to fourteen sites already being shut down. The company is suspending its quarterly dividend² as well. Now this is the successor to the Way Forward turnaround plan Ford detailed³ in January. That set out to remove 30,000 hourly jobs and close 14 plants by 2012. But analysts⁴ say those reductions weren't deep enough. And Richard, they say they weren't happening fast enough either.

Yeah, show me the money. Where are the profits? Is this gonna help?

Eh, well, these reductions are aimed at almost entirely⁵ the huge losses generated by Ford's North American auto⁶ operations. And according to a report Thursday, the carmaker could lose as much as 9 billion dollars this year. But Ford doesn't expect these latest cuts to push it into the black until 2009, so answer the question: not right now,(Yeah, OK) but hopefully later. Yeah. (Alright) The buyouts offered by Ford have been approved by the United Auto Workers Union and are similar to packages General Motors offered its hourly workers this year. The size of the severance⁷ payment is determined⁸ by seniority and workers can get as much as 140,000 dollars to leave Ford. However, those who take the maximum cash payout will give up their lifetime health benefits from the company. That's obviously worth a lot, but so is taking up 140,000 dollars if you can get a new job.

Sounds good. Well, hey. And I know you're just a messenger. So I was just kidding there, Stephanie.

Ha, ha, ha Yeah, thank you.

All right. Talk to you soon.

All right. Take care.

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Vocabulary

1. buyout–noun an act or instance of buying out, esp. of buying all or a controlling percentage of the shares in a company.

2. Suspend--verb. to defer⁹ or postpone

3. Black-adj. showing a profit; not showing any losses: the first black quarter in two years.

Also see “in the black”-- operating at a profit or being out of debt (opposed to in the red): New production methods put the company in the black.