GM determined to reallocate factory workers amid job cuts, President Mark Reuss says
General Motors President Mark Reuss on Tuesday told FOX Business that while the automaker takes steps to vacate several U.S. plants, a huge investment in the latest Chevy Silverado at one of its Flint, Michigan, plants will help reallocate some employees impacted by job cuts.
“We haven’t actually announced that we are closing any plants — we’ve 'unallocated' those plants,” Reuss explained to Jeff Flock in response to putting five plants up for possible closure, and he added that “this plant we’ve put about $1.2 billion in it since ’09, including a new paint shop, new body shop and we’re bringing 1000 employees from some of those unallocated plants to this plant here.”
Last year, GM announced plans to slash 15 percent of its salaried workforce and halt production at plants in Ohio, Michigan, Maryland and Ontario. In addition, they are eliminating several car models in the U.S., including the Chevrolet Cruz and the Buick LaCrosse.
The decision has drawn criticism from President Trump, who threatened to end subsidies for electric vehicles in the near future.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GM | GENERAL MOTORS CO. | 60.20 | +1.67 | +2.85% |
However, Reuss remained tight-lipped on whether Trump’s disapproval changed his mind.
“These are tough decisions, they affect employees and we take that very seriously,” he said.
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Reuss’s father Lloyd also served as president in the 1990s and was also criticized at the time for not making some tough decisions. While “those were very different times,” and he had just joined the company at the time of his father’s firing in 1992, dealing with the 2009 bankruptcy during the global financial crisis is motivation to turn the company around.
“Mary [Barra] and I take that very, very seriously,” he said. “So we are going to get on the other side of this and make sure that we are healthy and strong and we’ve invested in the right plants and we fill those plants with as many workers and as many products as we can to make this a viable company for the future.”