General Motors is streamlining its engineering ranks and will cut a small number of jobs in the process.
The automaker confirmed Thursday that it gave notice to about 200 engineers that their positions are being eliminated. But they are allowed to apply for other jobs within the company, said GM spokesman Kevin Kelly.
“GM is taking steps to rebalance our engineering resources to better align with our growth strategy,” Kelly said in a statement to the Free Press. “This will require a small number of engineers to move to other parts of the organization over the next several months. We will work with those who are affected and provide them with an opportunity to apply for open positions.”
Kelly declined to specify which engineering departments are being targeted for the cuts. He said GM expects the number of engineers who are not “redeployed to another position in the company” to be small.
The move is not related to cost cuts amid ongoing UAW labor contract talks and possible concerns about a potential strike, Kelly said. Rather, the cuts are part of GM’s new plan laid out by CEO Mary Barra last month called “winning with simplicity.” Barra said this new strategy will “reduce design and engineering expense, supplier costs, order complexity, buildable combinations and manufacturing complexity.”
For example, Barra said GM is targeting a 50% reduction in trim levels for its electric and gasoline-powered vehicles. She did not give a time frame but said GM will do it “through a smart bundling of customer features and options. This results in fewer part numbers to simplify marketing, engineering and manufacturing, while maintaining the best features customers want.”
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Free Press staff writer Phoebe Wall Howard contributed to this report.
Contact Jamie L. LaReau: jlareau@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. Read more on General Motors and sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber