Well-known car companies have laid off employees again

According to Reuters local time on the 23rd, GM will lay off nearly 1,000 more employees and stop Arizona's IT business. GM said it would cut 940 information technology jobs in Arizona and halt the state's IT operations to streamline operations and reduce costs. GM noted that about 80 to 90 employees working on the "software-defined car" team will remain in Arizona to integrate IT operations at plants in Michigan, Georgia and Texas.

GM spokesman Kevin Kelly said Aug. 23 that the Chandler IT Innovation Center, which opened in 2014, will close in October. The center is one of four IT innovation centers that GM operates across the United States. Stacy Lynett, vice president of information and digital technology at GM, said, "Today we are announcing a difficult decision to discontinue information and digital technology (IDT) operations at the Arizona IT Innovation Center at the end of October. It was a difficult decision, but it will help optimize our innovation center layout and continue to support the company by improving efficiency and effectiveness. ”

In fact, GM has made several layoffs. GM said just last week it plans to cut about 200 engineering positions to reduce the complexity of the car, with many engineers expected to move to other positions at the company. In April, General Motors (GM. N) laid off hundreds of full-time contractors at its engineering center in suburban Detroit. A company spokesman said hundreds of contractors from GM's large product development operations were laid off over the weekend, but declined to say the exact number. The layoffs include thousands of engineers, designers and other employees in the product development department responsible for developing future car models. The layoffs are GM's latest move to cut costs.

In January, GM proposed a $2 billion cost cut by the end of 2024. The company wants to improve the profitability of its vehicles by permanently reducing structural costs and remain nimble in an increasingly competitive market. In March, GM launched its voluntary separation program (VSP). According to CNBC, General Motors Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson said about 5,000 employees chose to participate in the buyout program announced in March, which aims to reduce the automaker's global headcount and fixed costs. As a result of the program, GM expects to spend about $100 million this quarter. This staff cut has squeezed GM's profitability in the short term. GM's first quarter 2023 financial report shows that in the first quarter, GM's employee voluntary separation plan expenses reached 875 million US dollars, during which the company's net profit attributable to the parent decreased by 18.5% year-on-year to 2.395 billion US dollars. In addition, GM lowered its full-year net profit forecast to $8.4 billion to $9.9 billion from $8.7 billion to $10.1 billion, mainly due to employee buyout costs. In February this year, SAIC-GM was rumored to be "affected by the decline in sales to prepare for a major layoff, planning to buy out the seniority of employees over 45", and then SAIC-GM issued a "solemn statement" on its official public account, saying that the online news was untrue.