GM lessens blow: 2,700 jobs will be spared from layoffs

DETROIT — General Motors’ plans to lay off 14,000 salaried and blue-collar workers might not be as bad as originally projected.

The company said Friday that 2,700 out of the 3,300 U.S. factory jobs slated for elimination will now be saved. Blue-collar workers will still lose jobs at four U.S. plants slated for closure next year, but most will be able to find employment at eight other GM factories where jobs are being added. Some would have to relocate.

GM still plans to lay off about 8,000 white-collar workers and an additional 2,600 factory workers in Canada.

In November, the company announced plans to end production at the U.S. factories and one in Ontario as part of a major restructuring designed to cut costs and divert resources to development and manufacturing of trucks, SUVS and electric and autonomous vehicles.

Legislators and President Donald Trump have hammered GM over the moves.

While some of the roughly 3,300 U.S. factory workers will retire, most of the rest will be offered one of 2,700 jobs the company plans to add at factories where production will increase, GM announced on Friday. Some would have to uproot and move to other cities for jobs.

“Our focus remains on providing interested employees options to transition including job opportunities at other GM plants,” CEO Mary Barra said in a statement of the factory workers.

That still leaves the majority of the 14,000 cuts hitting white-collar workers. A small number of them will be able to transfer to other openings, and those who can’t will get help in finding work elsewhere, the company said.

Since the announcement, GM has faced criticism from Trump, legislators from the affected states and the United Auto Workers union, largely over the plant closure plans.