Ford Motor Co. is cutting about 350 connected-vehicle software jobs in the United States and Canada to align worker skillsets with the goals of the company, according to two sources familiar with the decision.

The reductions amount to about 5% of the connected-vehicle software team, the people who weren't permitted to speak publicly on the topic said. The employees, who were notified starting Tuesday, work on projects that include the Ford and Lincoln Digital Experiences, the latest-generation infotainment software in the Dearborn, Michigan, automaker's vehicles. Automakers like Ford have conveyed big expectations from in-vehicle experiences in terms of growing brand loyalty and generating subscription revenue.

"We consistently review our organization to make sure we are operating efficiently and effectively in a fast-paced and dynamic environment," the company said in a statement. "We are making changes within our Connected Vehicle Software team to ensure we have the right talent and organization to deliver the world’s best next-generation connected vehicles. This will include some separations.”

The cuts don't come in response to U.S. import tariffs, the people said. They're also unrelated to Ford’s decision to stop the development of a Tesla-like next-generation electrical software architecture that it called FNV4 because of high costs and delays. CEO Jim Farley on an earnings call last week said the company combined efforts from FNV4 into FNV3 for advanced electric architectures applying to both gas-powered and electric vehicles. The zonal electric architecture will be featured on the first EV from Ford's California skunk works team.

"Our strategy hasn't changed. It's a very significant save for capital efficiency," Farley said. "We simply merged our two Ford zonal electric architectures into one. This is very important for the company, because our software is going faster than we expected and the advanced electric architectures allow us to deliver software to the vehicles and customers in a more efficient way."

Ford has said it hopes to generate $1 billion from software and service sales as soon as this year. In March, it had 800,000 paid subscribers on its roles, mostly from commercial vehicle business Ford Pro.

Ford last year also said it would cut 4,000 jobs in Europe by 2027. Workers in Cologne, Germany, are expected to go on strike Wednesday in response to concerns over job security.

Software is an area in which other companies have made workforce adjustments too. General Motors Co. in August said it was laying off more than 1,000 salaried employees in its software and services organization globally as it restructured its software strategy following bumpy EV launches. The Detroit automaker in November said it was restructuring and laying off another 1,000 salaried and hourly people, with a majority working in the Global Technical Center in Warren, Michigan.

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