IT jobs are at risk as more than a fifth of General
Motors workers face losing their jobs by the end of the year as the
company restructures, GM CEO Fritz Henderson said
today.
Speaking in a news
conference, Henderson said job cuts across the board would be
around 22% of GM's 235,000 workers, but that the attrition rate
among managers would be higher.
He said a third of the cuts had already been made, and the rest
would be done by the end of the year, starting in the next 30 to 60
days.
These job losses will come on top of the loss of 400,000 jobs in
the US automotive sector last year.
Announcing the US government's 61% share of the restructured
GM, President Barack Obama said the deal came at a cost in jobs
and money, with more to come. This "sacrifice" was on behalf of
future generations of Americans so that they could live "in an
America that still makes things", he said.
Obama said the US government had started a programme to retrain
laid-off auto workers in green industries. He called on Congress to
approve a plan to speed up the replacement of the government
vehicle fleet with more fuel-efficient models to kick-start US auto
production.