GM Is Cutting 47,000 Jobs Worldwide

2023 Author: Eric Donovan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-08-25 09:36

Opel parent company GM plans to cut 47,000 jobs worldwide. This means that the employees at the Opel locations must also tremble.

The struggling for survival Opel parent company General Motors (GM) wants to cut 26,000 jobs outside the USA. This means that Opel employees at the German locations must also tremble for their jobs. GM boss Rick Wagoner left the fate of the German Tocvhter Opel open on Wednesday night at a press conference in Detroit. It is therefore still unclear whether GM wants to close German locations or sell Opel completely. In total, the US group plans to cut 47,000 jobs - that would be around one in five jobs out of 245,000 employees worldwide.

Further help is required

In its recovery plan presented to the US government on Tuesday, GM is also demanding up to 30 billion dollars (24 billion euros) from the state. That's more than twice as much as GM has received so far. During his trip to the USA, North Rhine-Westphalia's Prime Minister Jürgen Rüttgers (CDU) asked for clarity about what the restructuring plan means specifically for the German Opel locations. The night shift workers discussed the situation at the Opel factory in Bochum. A production fitter said on behalf of colleagues that they are counting on a future without GM. "We hope that the work can be sold and will be preserved," he said. The works council of the Bochum plant considers a sale to be the best solution.

The heavily battered largest US automaker is increasingly threatening to become a billionaire grave. The restructuring plan called for by the government provides for job cuts and the closure of five US plants. The brands Saab in Sweden and Hummer and Saturn in the USA are for sale. The cuts are the prerequisite for new state aid.

No statement about Opel

Wagoner did not want to comment on the question of whether plants in Germany will also be closed as part of the plan. According to media reports, GM is considering closing the Opel factories in Bochum and Antwerp, Belgium, and selling the Eisenach plant. Opel is negotiating a guarantee of up to 1.8 billion euros with the federal government because of GM's imbalance.

"We are in the middle of talking to various sides, including the German government," said Wagoner. Listen to all the options. Regarding speculation about a separation from Opel, Wagoner only said that no one had yet approached GM about a sale. After the GM plan was announced, NRW Prime Minister Rüttgers asked for information about the effects in Germany. "It is now the job of Opel to say what the future concept looks like in the long term," said the CDU politician on Tuesday evening (local time) at an event in the German embassy in Washington. "We said we were ready to help, but that is only possible if you know where the journey is going." Rüttgers wanted to meet with Wagoner in Detroit on Wednesday afternoon (local time). "I'm very happy about that,that we can then talk about what the (renovation concept) means for the individual locations,”he said.

In the discussion about an Opel rescue, the President of the Rhenish-Westphalian Institute for Economic Research (RWI) and future economic practices, Christoph Schmidt, warned against state aid. In the "Bild" newspaper (Wednesday), Schmidt called on the federal and state governments to refrain from helping Opel. «I consider help for individual industries to be a very bad idea. Politicians should not presume to decide which companies are worth preserving and which are not,”said Schmidt.

So far, GM has received around $ 13.4 billion from the US government. Now the US industry leader is demanding a further $ 16.6 billion. An orderly bankruptcy procedure with bankruptcy protection would, however, according to GM, be much more expensive and even cost up to 100 billion dollars.

GM and competitor Chrysler have to specifically prove their viability based on their restructuring plans by the end of March. Negotiations are also ongoing with the trade unions about concessions and with the creditors on debt rescheduling. (dpa)