Source: Sharecast
The plant - where the Range Rover Evoque and Land Rover Discovery Sport are built - employs just under 4,000 people, excluding agency staff. The luxury car maker said around 500 jobs will be affected as it changes its shift patterns.
JLR said in a statement: "Through its ongoing transformation programme, Jaguar Land Rover is taking action to optimise performance, enable sustainable growth and safeguard the long-term success of our business.
"Central to the Halewood manufacturing strategy, we are moving from a three shift to a ‘two-plus’ shift pattern from April 2020. This will deliver significant operating efficiencies at the plant, while enabling us to meet the growing customer demand for our new Range Rover Evoque and Land Rover Discovery Sport."
The company said it will be offering an enhanced voluntary redundancy programme.
JLR insisted that the change, which was agreed as part of pay negotiations last year, was about efficiency rather than loss of volume.
Unite national officer Des Quinn said: "This is a further blow to the UK car industry in general and to our members at Halewood in particular. Unite will be ensuring that the commitment to limit job losses to voluntary redundancies is fully honoured.
"The challenges being faced at JLR are also being experienced by other UK car factories. The UK’s car industry has plummeted from being the jewel in the crown of the UK’s manufacturing sector in a few short years, directly as a result of government inaction.
"Until the government ensures that there is long-term frictionless trade and no tariffs with the European Union along with meaningful investment in the infrastructure to ensure the success of electric vehicles, the UK’s car industry will continue to experience severe challenges."
