GM terminates some salaried workers

General Motors on Tuesday eliminated a “small” but unspecified number of salaried and executive positions for what it said were performance-related reasons.

In an internal memo that was shared with Automotive News, Arden Hoffman, GM’s chief people officer, told employees that the cuts involve “a relatively small number of global executives and classified employees following our most recent performance calibration. They will be departing the company starting from today.”

GM spokesman David Barnas said the company is focusing on accountability and efficiency in what it’s calling “a critically important year.”

“To deliver on our commitments and win in this industry, we must have a winning team and hold ourselves accountable for performing at a high level; by focusing on our efficiency, we are preparing for a more competitive environment,” Barnas said in a statement. “Today’s action follows our most recent performance calibration and supports managing the attrition curve as part of our overall structural costs reduction effort.”

The Detroit News reported on the job cuts earlier Tuesday, saying about 500 positions were affected.

At the end of 2022, GM had roughly 81,000 salaried employees, including 58,000 in the U.S., according to a federal regulatory filing.

GM CEO Mary Barra said on an earnings call in January that the automaker was not planning layoffs as it works to reduce costs by $2 billion over the next two years.

“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 told analysts. “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.”

Hoffman’s Tuesday memo noted that GM has multiple vehicle launches planned across the globe this year in an increasingly competitive market.

“To deliver on our commitments and to beat the competition, we need to have the winning team, bar none,” she wrote. “We need a culture shift that enables us to hold ourselves accountable for achieving the higher levels of operating that are now required. We’ve already made changes to make the experience around performance simpler and more meaningful, via more frequent conversations between leaders and employees.”

Hoffman added: “Globally, employees and leaders will be equipped with options to address any issues with greater urgency, so we can achieve our boldest goals. 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.”