General Motors will announce today that it is cutting a quarter of its US blue-collar workforce.
Around 30,000 people will leave – all of them workers who have accepted early retirement or severance deals. As these workers are to leave the company by the end of this year, GM will be well ahead of its target to cut 25,000 jobs by 2008.
News of the buyouts - which range from £19,000 to £77,000 depending on length of service - has pushed GM's share price up by a third since it announced its cost-cutting programme in March. The buyouts mean huge future health and pension benefit savings for GM.
Parts supplier Delphi is also expected to announce that 9000 of its union workers have agreed to leave, while GM’s rival Ford has announced that it is cutting 10,000 workers from its payroll.
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