GM to offer huge buyouts to all hourly employees

[Isaac Sauvage]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090203/ap_on_bi_ge/general_motors_buyouts

NEW YORK – General Motors Corp. will offer buyouts to all of its hourly employees, a spokesman confirmed Tuesday, as the troubled automaker continues to slash costs.

GM spokesman Tony Sapienza said the buyouts will mainly target GM's 22,000 retirement-eligible hourly employees, though any union employee can take the offer.

News of the buyouts first broke on Monday. A union official told The Associated Press then that GM would offer $20,000 in cash and a $25,000 car voucher for workers who retire early and those who simply leave the company. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because workers were not yet notified of the packages.

Sapienza confirmed that the offer will consist of a car voucher and a one-time cash payment, though declined to offer more details, saying that employees will be informed of the specifics of the offer on Friday. However, he said the latest offer would be less generous than previous buyouts.

Sapienza said employees will have until March 24 to decide whether to accept a buyout. Employees who accept the buyout will leave the company by April 1.

The buyouts are the latest round of cost-cutting measures by GM, which is racing to piece together a plan for returning to viability by the middle of the month. The Detroit-based company is scheduled to report January auto sales later Tuesday, and analysts are expecting a steep year-over-year decline.

Shares of GM fell 20 cents, or 6.9 percent, to $2.69 in afternoon trading.

does anybody see a way that detroit can ever get back on its feet?

even with govt cash loans their reputation is shot, their technology out of date, their corporate planning a disaster and their ability to produce desirable product for the future highly questionable.

meanwhile a buttload of american jobs depend on their industry directly and indirectly.
does this look good to anybody here?

 

[elton]

The UK government has also bailed out GM and Ford indirectly ... the response has been to increase car prices by 6+% .... that will encourage everyone to buy their cars isn't it. They couldn't organise a piss-up in a brewery.

 

[sleepy]

$2.69 a share! :bath:Given the crisis, that shouldn't surprise, but I have to admit that my jaw dropped to the floor.
I can remember when shares of GM went for $100 a share minimum.

Um, is it about manufacturing SUVs that sell for $38,000? They need to get back to the '62 Impalla or similar. A solid mid-size that doesn't break the piggy bank. Updating to concentrate on hybrids wouldn't hurt but for the fact they are in the hole. From a business standpoint they need to increase revenue before looking at new technology and engaging the overhead involved. Sad really.