Stellantis to offer tens of thousands of workers buyout offers

Tens of thousands of Stellantis workers in the U.S. will soon receive buyout offers from the automaker.

The company confirmed Wednesday to FOX Business that a total of 33,500 workers in the U.S. – including 31,000 hourly and 2,500 salaried – will receive offers of voluntary separation programs. The Wall Street Journal first reported on the move.

Impacted employees will get details about the various offers next week, according to the automaker that owns Chrysler, Fiat, Jeep and more. 

The buyouts are "being offered to designated non-represented U.S. employees who have 15 or more years of service and work in certain organizations," Stellantis said in a statement. Certain represented employees in American and Canada will also receive offers "to separate from the company."

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"In response to today’s increasingly competitive global market conditions and the necessary shift to electrification, Stellantis is thoroughly reviewing its North American operations to improve efficiency, reduce costs and protect the competitiveness of our products to allow for further strategic investments to support our transformation," Stellantis said. "To help in that effort, the Company today announced that it is offering voluntary separation programs to certain non-represented and represented employees."

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Stellantis’ headcount at the end of 2022 totalled over 272,000 workers, including more than 88,800 in North America, according to its latest annual report. Of its employees, the automaker said about 88% belonged to unions, with those in North America being covered by the UAW and in Canada by Unifor.

Shawn Fain, the head of the UAW, described Stellantis’ move as a "slap in the face to our members, their families, their communities, and the American people who saved this company 15 years ago" in a statement. 

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Stellantis, as part of its "Dare Forward 2030 Strategic Plan," has a goal of increasing its sales mix in America to become 50% electric vehicles. In Europe, it wants its mix in Europe to become entirely so by the next decade.