- GM is laying off 1,000 salaried staff from its software and services division around the world.
- Around 600 of the job losses are due to cuts at the automaker’s tech campus near Detroit.
- The layoffs amount to approximately a 1.3 percent reduction in GM’s total workforce, reports say.
GM’s stock price grew in the first half of 2024, but its headcount is moving in the opposite direction. The automaker is laying off around 1,000 salaried employees globally as it tries to cut costs.
Although GM acknowledged the layoffs, it hasn’t officially confirmed the number of job losses. But CNBC’s sources put it at 1,000, with 600 of those believed to be made up of redundancies at the company’s technology campus near Detroit.
Related: GM Admits EV Slowdown, Sees Goal For 1 Million EVs By 2025 Slip Away
“As we build GM’s future, we must simplify for speed and excellence, make bold choices, and prioritize the investments that will have the greatest impact,” a GM spokesman told CNBC. “As a result, we’re reducing certain teams within the Software and Services organization.”
Based on the layoff figures its sources allege, CNBC estimates that the job cuts amount to a 1.3 percent reduction in GM’s global workforce of 76,000. Of that total, 53,000 are based in the US.
GM told Reuters that the job cuts were not about reducing costs, but came about as the result of an operational review following the departure of software and services VP Mike Abbott, who left the company due to ill health earlier this year.
But there’s no doubt that automakers are keen to make savings to help fund the huge investments they’re required to transition to an electric future with a major focus on software tech.
GM opted to develop its own in-car software systems rather than allow Apple CarPlay and Android Auto in its new EVs so that it could make more money from subscription services. GM and other automakers believe subscriptions for features like streaming apps and driver assistance tech are going to be a major cash cow for the car industry in the coming years.
Last year GM announced plans to buy out 5,000 employees as part of a plan to reduce costs by $2 billion by the end of 2024.
