As a cost-cutting measure, General Motors has begun laying off employees. A source told Reuters that hundreds of executive-level and salaried jobs will be eliminated as part of the company’s initiative to save $2 billion over the next two years.
GM, however, does not view these job reductions as layoffs. The Associated Press is reporting that GM is conducting “performance-related job cuts” that only affect a small number of their 81,000 salaried employees. According to CNN, GM CEO Mary Barra recently told investors, “I do want to be clear, though, we’re not planning layoffs. We are limiting our hiring to only the most strategically important roles and will use attrition to help manage overall head count.”
In a memo obtained by the Detroit Free Press, GM Chief People Officer Arden Hoffman said, "To deliver on our commitments and to beat the competition, we need to have the winning team, bar none. We need a culture shift that enables us to hold ourselves accountable for achieving the higher levels of operating that are now required."