BAILOUT MOTORS: GM Gutting Half Its U.S. Workforce

GM, the leading U.S. automaker by volume, will gut its U.S. workforce “voluntarily” according to a confidential internal memo from Chairman and CEO Mary Barra that leaked on Thursday.

“Accelerated attrition requires to be proactive regarding workforce planning,” Barra’s memo reads. “Therefore, today, we are announcing a voluntary program that offers the majority of our U.S. team an opportunity to leave GM and transition to what’s next with an attractive compensation and health care package.”

Putting a smiley face on the matter, Barra explained that her “Voluntary Separation Program, known as a VSP, presents an opportunity to explore a new industry, make a career change, further a personal business venture or decide you can retire earlier.”

The move is “designed to accelerate attrition in the U.S.”

What that means is, more than half of General Motors’ American workforce will have two weeks to decide whether to take the retirement package or… “Taking this step now will help avoid the potential for involuntary actions.”

From the sound of it — take the voluntary separation package before we separate you without one — employees would be wise to take the offer.

General Motors’ South Korea division will offer a similar VSP package, but workers in Canada, Mexico, Europe, and China will not, according to the memo. Whether Barra plans similarly drastic job cuts in those countries is unclear.

The company currently employs about 167,000 people in the US, spread across its four surviving divisions — Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC — and corporate HQ.

General Motors used to sell half of all cars in the U.S. market. Now it sells one in six. How many cars it’ll be able to produce with fewer than half of today’s headcount remains unclear, and is not a topic Marra addressed in today’s memo.

How the mighty have fallen.

Here’s Barra’s memo in its entirety.