General Motors Cutting Salaried Employees, Executives as Part of ‘Structural Costs’ Reduction Effort

The new GM logo is seen on the facade of the General Motors headquarters in Detroit, Mich., on March 16, 2021. (Reuters/Rebecca Cook/File Photo)

General Motors Co. is cutting an unspecified number of salaried and executive staff positions as part of what it says is an effort to lower costs, improve performance, and beat the competition.

General Motors chief people officer Arden Hoffman made the announcement in a to employees shared with The Epoch Times by General Motors.

“To deliver on our commitments and to beat the competition, we need to have the winning team, bar none. We need a culture shift that enables us to hold ourselves accountable for achieving the higher levels of operating that are now required,” Hoffman said.

“This week we are taking action with a relatively small number of global executives and classified employees following our most recent performance calibration,” Hoffman wrote. “They will be departing the company starting from today.”

“We should all know where we stand and have clarity on how to improve. Today’s environment demands it. This is a fundamental cultural shift to be more performance-driven and accountable,” Hoffman added.

‘Small Number’ of Workers Impacted

GM representative David Barnas told The Epoch Times that the cuts affect a “small number” of positions, but stopped short of providing a specific number of employees who would be departing the automotive manufacturing company.

In a separate statement to Automotive News, Barnas said the vehicle maker “must have a winning team and hold ourselves accountable for performing at a high level” in what he called a “critically important year.”

“By focusing on our efficiency, we are preparing for a more competitive environment,” Barnas said. “Today’s action follows our most recent performance calibration and supports managing the attrition curve as part of our overall structural costs reduction effort.”

At the end of 2022, GM had roughly 81,000 salaried employees, including 58,000 in the United States, according to reports.

The announcement comes after GM chair and CEO Mary Barra reportedly told investors on a phone call in January that the company is planning a $2 billion cost-savings program in an effort to reduce structural costs, but that it was not planning to initiate any layoffs and would only limit hiring.

“The areas we’re focusing on include continuing to reduce complexity in all of our products and reducing corporate overhead expenses across the board,” Barra said during the call. “I do want to be clear, though: We’re not planning layoffs. We are limiting our hiring to only the most strategically important roles, and we'll use attrition to help manage overall headcount.”

Win for Thacker Pass Lithium Mine

Last month, the vehicle maker reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results despite a year of a slowing economy, rising interest rates, and chip shortages; with net income up 16 percent over the year-ago period, according to GM.

The Detroit-headquartered automaker made $1.99 billion from October through December, or an adjusted $2.12 per share. Economists had projected $1.69 per share. Elsewhere, quarterly revenue rose 28 percent, to $43.1 billion, beating market estimates of $39.96 billion.

GM also announced that it plans to invest $650 million in Lithium Americas to jointly develop the Thacker Pass lithium mine in northern Nevada, the largest known source of lithium in the United States.

The move comes amid GM’s push to establish itself in the electric vehicle market, although the carmaker noted that the investment depends on whether or not the Thacker Pass project is given the green light to go ahead amid mounting environmental and legal challenges.

On Friday, U.S. District Judge Miranda Du of the District of Nevada denied a request by a coalition of ranchers and environmental organizations to prohibit work at the lithium mine, clearing the way for construction to begin.

The groups had cited concerns that the work would destroy key wildlife habitat, harm groundwater, and pollute the air, but Judge Du in her ruling said they had “failed to make a clear showing of entitlement to the extraordinary remedy of an injunction pending appeal.”