Ford Motor Co. is one of many businesses to announce a reduction in force. 

Ford Motor Co. recently announced a reduction in force and will eliminate 3,000 salaried positions to cut costs and streamline operations as the company navigates the waves of change to transition to electric vehicles. Ford Motor Co. plans for half of its global production to be electric vehicles by 2030; the company told Wall Street Journal. 

The majority of layoffs will affect the salaried positions in Dearborn, Michigan, close to 2,000 jobs, according to the Wall Street Journal, and the other 1,000 will affect contract workers from outside agencies. 

"Building [this] future requires changing and reshaping virtually all aspects of the way we have operated for more than a century," stated an email from Executive Chair Bill Ford and Chief Executive Jim Farley in the report. 

Ford Motor Co. is not the only big business to announce layoffs. Best Buy, Apple, Netflix, HBOMAX, Peloton, ReMAX, Walmart, Wayfair and Shopify have all recently announced a reduction in the labor force, according to a report from VisualCapitalist.

Companies are facing challenges as labor and production costs are increasing all while business is slowing much in part to inflation hikes and fears of a recession, according to a recent PwC pulse survey.

In the first week of August, the consulting firm surveyed 722 U.S. executives, including CFOs and finance leaders, on current "managing business risks. While the July reports from the Labor Department showed layoffs were low, the data from the PwC showed critical findings that 50% of all respondents in the survey are planning a reduction of force, 46% are dropping or reducing signing bonuses and 44% are rescinding offers.

The report explained that companies are pivoting toward automation and face a current significant challenge in finding the right "talent," a combination of deep functional knowledge and technology know-how, the report added. 

"Without the right talent, automation can fail to deliver on promised efficiencies and increase operational risks," the report said.

Executives are navigating a changing world and cited a long list of issues as managing serious business risks, the survey showed. While cyber threats top the list, with (40%) citing more frequent or broader cyber risks as the most serious business risk. Talent acquisition and retention take second at (38%) and rising production costs (34%) are close behind.