Jaguar Land Rover Plants remain idle as cyber attack disrupts production and threatens thousands of UK supply chain jobs. Image credit: Tata Group.
(The Post News) – Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has prolonged its factory shutdown following a cyber attack that paralyzed its IT systems, with demands for the government to implement a Covid-style furlough scheme in order to protect workers in its supply chain.
The cyber-attack, which struck on 1 September, forced JLR to shut down factories in Solihull, Halewood and Wolverhampton. The company originally intended to restart production last Monday, but the shutdown will now be until at least Wednesday, and experts fear interruptions may remain until the end of September.
JLR is currently losing around £5m–£10m a day, with total losses exceeding £50m.
Supply Chain Jobs in Jeopardy
The crisis has prompted suppliers like Evtec, WHS Plastics, SurTec and OPmobility to temporarily furlough about 6,000 employees. Smaller businesses have already cut their numbers, with one supplier verifying that it had dismissed nearly half of its employees.
Former Aston Martin chief executive Andy Palmer warned that “layoffs are either already occurring, or are being planned,” saying that some suppliers were at risk of going out of business if given no immediate help.
David Bailey, a business economics professor at Birmingham Business School, had threatened up to a quarter of a million jobs in JLR’s supply chain.
Unite the union general secretary Sharon Graham demanded an immediate intervention:
“Thousands of JLR supply chain employees now have their own jobs under threat overnight following the cyber attack. Ministers need to act fast and introduce a furlough scheme to save valuable jobs and talent while JLR and its supply chain get back on their feet.”.
Labour MP Liam Byrne, the Commons Business and Trade Committee chair, asked Chancellor Rachel Reeves about this. In his open letter, Byrne elaborated that “What started in digital systems is now spreading throughout the supply chain, risking a cashflow squeeze which will turn shock into long-term damage.”
The committee asked for like-for-like emergency support the government offered to avert British Steel from collapsing back in 2019.
JLR Hackers Identified
The group, identifying themselves as Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters, claimed responsibility on Telegram. The hackers, who have been linked to earlier hacks at Marks & Spencer, Harrods and Co-Op, claimed they exploited a flaw in JLR’s third-party software.
JLR said “some data” had been hacked. Cyber security specialists, the National Cyber Security Centre, and police are continuing to investigate. The company has not commented on whether a ransom has been demanded.
Whereas JLR has 34,000 UK employees, most remain at home on full pay. The wider Midlands economy, reliant on motor supply chains, has also slowed dramatically. While JLR typically produces over 1,000 vehicles every day, with exports making the UK economy whole.
Whereas last year JLR produced £2.5bn of pre-tax profit and is thus able to weather short-term disruption, there are no such buffers among smaller suppliers.
Business and Trade Minister Chris Bryant announced that the government was keeping a close eye on the crisis: “We’re mindful of the extreme impact this has had on JLR and their suppliers. This is a concerning time for those who are affected, and we are working with the company to resolve the issue as soon as possible.”
Britain’s biggest car manufacturer is in shutdown mode, and its supply chain is facing its worst test since the Covid pandemic.
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