General Motors to cut 30,000 manufacturing jobs
General Motors, pounded by declining sales and rising health care costs, said it would cut more than a quarter of its North American manufacturing jobs and close 12 facilities by 2008.
The United Auto Workers called the plan “devastating” and warned it would make negotiations more difficult, but some Wall Street analysts said GM’s actions may not go far enough.
To get production in line with demand, GM will cut 30,000 jobs and will close nine assembly, stamping and powertrain plants and three parts facilities. The job cuts represent 27% of GM’s hourly jobs and about 17% of its overall North American work force of 173,000.
GM’s US market share fell to 26.2% in the first 10 months of this year compared with 33% a decade ago, the result of increasing competition from Asian rivals. GM lost almost 4 billion dollars (€3.4bn) in the first nine months of this year
“The decisions were very difficult to reach because of their impact on our employees and the communities where we live and work,” said GM chairman and chief executive Rick Wagoner said. “But these actions are necessary for GM to get its costs in line with our major global competitors.”
GM isn’t the only US car manufacturer cutting costs. Last week, Ford Motor Company told employees it planned to eliminate about 4,000 white-collar jobs in North America early next year as part of a restructuring plan.
