GM will cut 4,000 salaried workers

[rickaren]

GM will cut 4,000 salaried workers

Posted Wednesday, Jun 24, 2009, 1:57 pm in Employee News

General Motors Corp. started providing details to salaried and executive employees Tuesday about severance and early retirement offers as the automaker moves to cut about 4,000 jobs by Oct. 1, The Detroit News reported.

The cuts are part of GM’s sweeping restructuring while in Chapter 11 bankruptcy and will slash salaried ranks 20 percent and executive employees almost 35 percent, the paper said. Although GM is seeking volunteers, involuntary job losses are expected, according to the automaker.

Most of the job cuts will hit workers in southeastern Michigan, which is already reeling from pending GM factory closures and the blue-collar jobs that will be lost, the News said. The automaker said June 1 it is eliminating an estimated 8,900 jobs at five area plants as part of broad manufacturing cuts in several states, the paper said.

Staff will have two options: Accept a severance package that gives salaried workers as much as six months’ pay and benefits (executive employees can qualify for up to a year’s worth) or take an early retirement incentive that, for example, would let an eligible worker retire at 58 with benefits they would have received at age 62, the story said. (The Detroit News)