GM laying off nearly 1,000 workers, most in US, source says

By David Shepardson and Nora Eckert

(Reuters) -General Motors is laying off nearly 1,000 workers worldwide, most in the U.S., as it looks to streamline operations, a source told Reuters on Friday.

GM confirmed in a statement it had made job cuts.

“In order to win in this competitive market, we need to optimize for speed and excellence,” the Detroit automaker said. “As part of this continuous effort, we’ve made a small number of team reductions.”

The layoffs come as the car company is trying to reposition itself as a leader in electric vehicles and software, which are both costly. GM is aiming to cut $2 billion to $4 billion in losses on EVs next year.

In August, it laid off more than 1,000 workers in its software department as it worked to streamline the team. GM also laid off about 1,700 workers at a Kansas manufacturing plant in September.

One of its most significant reductions was in 2023, when about 5,000 GM salaried workers took buyouts to leave the automaker.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Jan Harvey)