General Motors is laying off about 1,000 employees worldwide and cutting costs as it aims to compete in the crowded global auto market.
Workers, who are mostly white-collar workers, were informed of the decision early Friday morning.
The company confirmed the layoffs in a statement, but provided few details.
“We need to optimize for speed and excellence,” the statement said. “This includes operating efficiently, ensuring we have the right team structure and focusing on our top priorities.”
GM and other automakers are trying to figure out where to invest capital and how quickly the transition will happen, with the transition to electric vehicles uncertain both in the U.S. and around the world.
The company needed to develop and update its gasoline engine models while investing in EV batteries, assembly plants, minerals and other components for next-generation electric vehicles.
According to Motorintelligence.com, sales of new EVs in the U.S. through September rose 7.2% to about 936,000 units.
This is slower growth than the 47% increase in 2023.
However, this year's EV sales are likely to exceed last year's record of 1.19 million units, with EVs accounting for 7.9% of new car sales this year, up from 7.6% last year.
GM has approximately 150,000 employees worldwide, with its largest group located at its technical center in the Detroit suburb of Warren, Michigan.
At the end of last year, the company had 76,000 white-collar employees around the world.
Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson said last month that GM is on track to meet its goal of reducing fixed costs by $2 billion by the end of this year.
In April last year, about 5,000 General Motors white-collar employees Company acquisition proposalThe automaker said at the time that this was enough to avoid layoffs.
The company offered acquisitions to white-collar employees with at least five years of service and global executives with at least two years of service.
GM said at the time that it could not completely rule out the possibility of future layoffs and said it was “not considering involuntary separations at this time.”
