The world's largest car maker General Motors says 35,000 workers - or almost a third of its hourly work force - have accepted offers to retire and leave the company. This was ahead of expectations and put GM two years ahead of schedule on planned job cuts.
Delphi, a former GM parts division which is restructuring in bankruptcy, said 12,600 of its employees had agreed to retire under an incentive plan offered as part of an agreement with GM and United Auto Workers union.
The better than expected acceptance of the offers makes it more likely that GM can avoid a costly work stoppage at Delphi.
GM also raised its cost savings target for structural costs - representing mostly its wage-related costs - to at least $8 billion annually by the end of 2006 from $7 billion.
The voluntary lay-offs, one of the largest such programmes ever undertaken by a US corporation, are part of a sweeping restructuring after a $10.5 billion loss at GM last year.
About 4,600 GM employees accepted severance payments and about 30,400 chose early retirement, GM said, and Chief Executive Rick Wagoner said the total was higher than management had expected. GM had offered amounts ranging from $70,000 to $140,000 to about 113,000 of its factory workers in a bid to reduce costly benefits for its rapidly ageing work force.
Coupled with the loss of 6,500 jobs in 2005 mostly through retirement, GM said it expected to reach its target of cutting 30,000 jobs by January 2007, two years ahead of schedule.
