General Motors said on March 26 that 7,500 unionized workers have accepted a buyout package, bringing the total number of U.S.-based hourly workers who have left the company since 2006 to just over 60,500. Most of the workers will retire by April 1.
GM currently employs about 243,000 people worldwide. It plans to cut 47,000 jobs this year, of which 26,000 will come from outside the U.S., according to a restructuring plan submitted to the U.S. Treasury Department.
GM plans to reduce its U.S. employment levels to 72,650 by 2012 from 195,374 in 2000.
The number of union workers will fall to 46,300 from 146,026 while the salaried workforce will shrink to 26,250 from 49,348 in 2000.
GM said it will fill job openings with current employees "whenever possible" and additional positions will be filled with lower-paid new workers. "The extent of the new hiring at each facility will be determined on a plant-by-plant basis," GM said.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2009
