General Motors slashed almost 1,000 jobs early Friday, adding to the thousands who were already let go from the massive automaker so far in 2024, Reuters reports. A now-former associate director for GM competitor intelligence told an industry Facebook group that the layoffs were communicated via an early-morning email.
Per CNBC, the layoffs were spread “across the business” and impacted mostly salaried employees; some hourly workers were let go as well. According to The Detroit News, the majority of the jobs cut were at the company’s Global Tech Center in Warren, Michigan.
After laying off more than 1,000 software engineers and support staff in August and 1,700 Kansas manufacturing employees in September, GM’s headcount reduction for the year stands at more than 3,700, the wire service said, as the company moves to clear between $2 and $4 billion in EV losses from its books through 2025.
Just a year ago, GM cemented a contract with the UAW promising, among other things, more than $6 billion for investment in new electric vehicle projects, including $4 billion for its facility in Orion, Michigan, and $2 billion for Spring Hill Assembly in Tennessee.
With prestige EV sales flagging and affordable alternatives arriving slowly or missing in action entirely, GM has joined others in the industry in pivoting away from an “all-in” electrification strategy in favor of one that includes more hybrid and plug-in models. The first of the latter are expected to arrive by 2027.
The re-election of President Trump forces automakers to face what is likely to be a radically different regulatory climate from the past four years. The incoming administration has already promised to roll back Biden-era EV incentives and dismantle other components of the Inflation Reduction Act.
The previous Trump administration’s track record on altering emissions policy was mixed, with most of its efforts focused on curtailing California’s influence over the U.S. auto policy (after suggesting it wouldn’t). The effort ended up fracturing the industry and ultimately failed.
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