Stellantis NV is offering buyouts to 33,500 US hourly and salaried employees as it seeks to cut costs, citing a “competitive” market and rapid shift to electric vehicles.
(Bloomberg) — Stellantis NV is offering buyouts to 33,500 US hourly and salaried employees as it seeks to cut costs, citing a “competitive” market and rapid shift to electric vehicles.
The automaker, which owns the Chrysler, Jeep and Ram brands, is offering the buyouts to 31,000 US hourly employees and 2,500 salaried employees, spokeswoman Jodi Tinson confirmed.
The company intends to cut about 3,500 hourly production and skilled trade jobs as a result of the buyouts, according to a letter posted earlier this week by the UAW Local 1264, which represents a Stellantis stamping plant in Sterling Heights, Michigan.
Read more: Stellantis Seeks to Cut About 3,500 US Jobs, Union Letter Says
Carlos Tavares, Stellantis’s chief executive officer, warned in February of more job cuts as the cost of electrification eats into the company’s profit margins. That same month, the carmaker idled its Jeep plant in Belvidere, Illinois, laying off about 1,350 workers indefinitely. It also said it would cut as many as 2,000 jobs in Italy.
The company was formed in 2021 from the merger of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV and France’s PSA Group.
Read more: Stellantis CEO Won’t Rule Out More Job Cuts as EV Shift Bites
“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,” Mark Stewart, Stellantis’s Chief Operating Officer for North America, said in a letter to employees Wednesday morning.
The cuts come as the company prepares to negotiate a new four-year contract with the United Auto Workers union ahead of a Sept. 14 deadline.
“Stellantis’ push to cut thousands of jobs while raking in billions in profits is disgusting,” Shawn Fain, president of the United Auto Workers, said in a statement. “Even now, politicians and taxpayers are bankrolling the electric vehicle transition, and this is the thanks the working class gets. Shame on Stellantis.”
Automotive News previously reported on the local union chapter’s letter. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier Wednesday that Stellantis is targeting buyouts and early retirement packages to salaried employees.
–With assistance from Keith Laing.
(Updates with salaried buyout details starting in first paragraph, adds comment from Stellantis and UAW leaders)
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