GM wants to cut more workers

In 1979, General Motors employed about 618,000 people. By the end of 2009, it will have eliminated more than 90 percent of those positions.

Another round of buyout offers ended yesterday. Any employee agreeing to leave could get $20,000 in cash and a $25,000 vehicle voucher. Workers with more than 20 years with GM can get $115,000 and the vehicle voucher. GM hopes 21,000 of its hourly workers will take the money and run, leaving the automaker with 33,000 hourly employees.

GM also wants to cut its white-collar headcount by 6,150 employees, leaving it with 23,500 white-collar workers at the end of 2009. This would give GM a total workforce of 56,500 employees, just over 9 percent the number it had thirty years ago.

General Motors isn’t just cutting employees to eliminate positions; the company’s plan is to replace more expensive experienced workers with new hires that will make half the current wage and get fewer benefits. The problem is the experienced workers know the buyouts aren’t worth very much when finding another job, even one that pays much less, is very difficult and that selling a house in the current Michigan market will make it harder to explore job opportunities outside of the state.