Friday"s announcement by Ford Motor Co. that it expects to lay off 22,000 workers in North America and eliminate 5,000 white-collar jobs, is causing many students who had hoped to work for the Dearborn-based automaker to rethink their future.

The financial troubles Ford is facing are particularly concerning to many students, because according to the College of Engineering"s annual report for 2000-2001, Ford hired more University Engineering students last year than any other employer, said Cynthia Redwine of the Engineering Career Resource Center.

"Last year wasn"t a particularly stellar year, and Ford did pretty good with attracting students," Redwine said.

Ford spokeswoman Anne Marie Gattari said although openings are limited, students will still have an opportunity to intern and take on jobs at the company.

"We are having a summer intern program and we are recruiting interns, and we are still as we always are looking for the best people," said Gattari. "There will be offers made, but as I said, the number of people we hire this year will depend on our business needs."

Gattari said there might even be an increase in job opportunities in the area of product development as the company tries to restructure production.

"Our clear area of need is product development because this is a product revitalization plan," she said.

While Gattari said it is difficult to assess the future needs of Ford, its main supplier, Visteon, is no longer hiring from the outside and cannot guarantee its co-op students a job after graduation like it has in the past, said Engineering senior Tom Hudson, a co-op student at the company.

"They can"t even take care of their people inside the company," he said.

Despite a slowing economy, Ford recruiters visited the University"s campus last semester, but according to Ford"s recruiting website, there are no scheduled visits to the University this semester.

Gattari said Ford plans to continue involvement with the University at this time.

"We are continuing to keep our relationship with universities and our recruiting efforts will be adjusted as the market dictates," she said.

In the past, even when companies have made cutbacks in production they normally continuing their recruiting efforts, Redwine said.

"Those just coming in after graduation are something companies want to maintain so they have fresh ideas and keep people coming up the ladder," Redwine said.

Hudson said that although opportunities at Ford are especially limited, it is difficult to find a position at General Motors or DaimlerChrysler as well.

"It is especially difficult at Ford," Hudson said. "I have several contacts there and even using my contacts I have had trouble finding an in there."