Shares of Ford Motor Co. rose 0.2% in premarket trading Thursday, after the auto maker announced plans to add more than 6,200 new manufacturing jobs in the U.S. Midwest, and to invest $1 billion over five years to improve working conditions in U.S. plants. The company said the new Midwest jobs will be union jobs in Michigan, Ohio and Missouri. Ford said it will also convert nearly 3,000 temporary employees to permanent full-time status ahead of schedule. The company said the investment and new jobs will support its Ford+ strategy to produce 2 million electric vehicles by the end of 2026, while also strengthening its Ford Blue portfolio of gas-powered vehicles. Ford said the moves announced Thursday come more than a year ahead of 2023 contract negotiations with the United Auto Workers (UAW) union. “Transforming our company for the next era of American manufacturing requires new ways of working, and together with UAW leadership, we are leading the way and moving fast to make improvements to benefits for our hourly employees and working conditions for our factory teams,” said Ford Chief Executive Jim Farley. The stock has tumbled 34.8% year to date through Wednesday, while shares of rival General Motors Co. have dropped 34.7% and the S&P 500 has lost 14.0%.
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