Originally published December 7 2005
GM to cut 10 percent of its workforce
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
General Motors announced plans to cut 10 percent of its current workforce, roughly 30,000 employees, as the company tries to reverse the current money losing trends of its North American branch.
General Motors Corp. today announced it would cut 30,000 workers --- or nearly 10% of its workforce --- from its payroll and shutter a dozen U.S. and Canadian factories as the world's largest automaker struggles to turnaround its money-losing North American operations.
The job cuts, which were larger than the previously announced 25,000 positions, are part of a four-point plan the Detroit-based company is following to slash costs in the face of stiff competition from lower cost rivals and pressure from Wall Street investors.
"The decisions we are announcing today were very difficult to reach because of their impact on our employees and the communities where we live and work," said GM chief executive officer Rick Wagoner in a statement.
In short, they are an essential part of our plan to return our North American operations to profitability as soon as possible."
Today's announced factory closures, which will reduce GM's annual production by one million vehicles, in combination with previous announced shut downs will cut the company's production by 30% since 1992.
In October, GM and the United Auto Workers union agreed to a deal that would reduce the automakers healthcare costs by about $3 billion annually, and the automaker unveiled plans to sell control of its profitable financing arm to raise cash.
"We have said consistently that General Motors cannot shrink it to prosperity," said UAW President Ron Gettelfinger and Vice President Richard Shoemaker in a joint statement.
The company is grappling not only with red ink but also a decades-long slide in market share to Japanese automakers.
GM has also seen its credit ratings fall to "junk" status, and despite shuttering some plants it still suffers from excess manufacturing capacity and burdensome healthcare and pension costs.
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