Having already cut close to a quarter of its North American employees in its bid to return to profitability, Ford has told its remain staff that more job cuts are set to come and this time it would be the fulltime salary employees getting the boot. During a meeting with employees from its marketing and service division on Friday, Ford vice president Jim Farley said that salary staff numbers would be cut by between 10 and 12% in an effort to overcome the pressure of rising fuel prices, slowing demand and rising material costs on the carmaker’s bottom line.

Ford will also reduce bonuses and merit increases it usually gives salaried employees in July. According to The Detroit News, other departments are being told to develop similar plans.

Ford’s human resources chief said the 10 and 12% numbers are still only estimates and that final details are still being processed, however, with more than 24,300 white-collar workers in the United States, Canada and Mexico even lower estimated will see thousands of workers handed a pink slip this July.

Unlike the last round of voluntary buyouts and early retirement offers, these will be involuntary layoffs. Ford has already eliminated 11,000 salaried positions in North America since the end of 2005, however, most of these were through voluntary buyout and early retirement incentives.