The GM logo is seen on the facade of General Motors headquarters in Detroit on March 16, 2021.
Rebecca Cook | Reuters
Detroit – general motors The automaker furloughed about 1,000 employees on Friday as it seeks to cut costs and realign its priorities amid changing market conditions, according to people familiar with the decision.
The layoffs, announced to affected employees Friday morning, were company-wide. Some of the decisions are due to poor business performance, but others are part of a review by automakers to realign their priorities, said the people, who agreed to discuss the decisions on condition of anonymity.
Most of the affected employees were office workers at the automaker’s Global Technical Center in Warren, Michigan, just outside of Detroit. The United Auto Workers union announced that about 50 union members are among those targeted for layoffs.
The company will cut fixed costs by $2 billion this year to combat slowing U.S. sales, weak performance in China and a shift in its electric vehicle “all-in” strategy amid slower-than-expected consumer adoption. This is the goal.
GM, Ford, Stellantis stocks.
A GM spokeswoman confirmed the job cuts but declined to disclose the total amount.
“To win in this competitive market, we must optimize for speed and excellence,” GM spokesman Kevin Kelly said in an emailed statement. “This includes operating efficiently, ensuring we have the right team structure and focusing on our top priorities as a business. As part of this continued effort, we have reduced a small number of our teams. We are grateful to those who have worked with us to build a strong foundation for GM to continue to lead the industry. ”
UAW Vice President Mike Booth, who oversees the union’s GM division, denounced the layoffs. “GM is cutting about 50 jobs even as the UAW is making record profits,” he said in an emailed statement. I will fight for it.”
Friday’s layoffs follow more than 1,000 salaried employees in GM’s software and services division being laid off in August.
GM had 76,000 salaried employees worldwide as of the end of last year. This includes approximately 53,000 salaried employees in the United States.
