Employees throughout the Jaguar Land Rover vendor network are allegedly being advised to apply for universal credit in the wake of the recent digital breach, a major labor organization has claimed.
Unite stated that workers are facing job losses with “reduced or zero pay” following the hack, which has forced the car manufacturer to close its IT networks and suspend manufacturing operations.
Calls for Government Intervention
The labor group has called on the UK government to create a furlough scheme, comparable with the one introduced by the Scottish authorities for bus maker Alexander Dennis.
The company did not respond on the claims made. It had previously stated that factory production would not resume until the end of September at the soonest, though sources indicate that disruption could persist until November.
“Employees in the automaker’s vendor network must not be made to pay the consequences for the digital intrusion,” the representative added.
Widespread Financial Impact
JLR’s supply chain sustains over one hundred thousand positions in the UK and sits at the top of a pyramid of suppliers, a significant number of whom are extremely reliant on the automotive firm as their main customer.
The security breach, which occurred more than two weeks ago, has compelled the manufacturer to shut down its IT infrastructure and stop assembly operations globally.
The situation is believed to have cost JLR at least £50m per week. A criminal investigation is ongoing.
Worries are growing that many of JLR’s suppliers, small and medium-sized firms, lack the financial means to cope with an prolonged interruption to operations and resulting losses.
Output Stoppages and Political Reaction
JLR’s 3 factories in Britain typically produce around 1,000 cars daily. It has told a large number of its thirty-three thousand staff to stay at home.
Liam Byrne MP, the head of the Commons business and trade committee, stated that the attack could result in hundreds of vendor staff being laid off.
Byrne said he had written to the chancellor to request Covid-style financial support for suppliers.
“This isn’t a mere glitch on the radar at Jaguar Land Rover, this is a cyber blockade and it's sent a digital tremor through their supply chain,” he remarked.
JLR has stated it delayed restarting production as a “forensic investigation” of the cyber attack continued and it considered a “controlled restart” of worldwide activities.
