The company was losing $1 billion a year and had to drastically trim its work force.

The company began to trim its work force in 1985 by laying off 1,600 employees.

Ford has also been steadily trimming its work force and costs in Europe this year.

Mr. Roberts also trimmed his work force slightly, from 44 last summer to 38 today.

The company trimmed its work force by 207 employees in 1986 and 1987.

The company has trimmed its work force by 32 percent since August 2000.

Now comes the hard part: trimming its work force by 10 percent.

The company will trim its work force by 70,000 and close 21 assembly plants.

The company said yesterday that it would trim its work force, largely in the agricultural chemical business.

The company is closing a total of 599 stores and trimming its work force by 57,000.