By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Chrysler parent Stellantis NV said Wednesday it is offering voluntary exit packages to 33,500 U.S. employees as it looks to streamline operations.
The offers cover 31,000 U.S. hourly workers and about 2,500 salaried workers. Stellantis did not say how many total jobs it is looking to eliminate. It is also offering some employees in Canada voluntary buyouts.
Stellantis Chief Operating Officer Mark Stewart told employees in an email seen by Reuters that a review of its operations “has made it clear that we must become more efficient.”
United Auto Workers (UAW) union President Shawn Fain criticized the effort.
“Stellantis’ push to cut thousands of jobs while raking in billions in profits is disgusting,” Fain said. “This is a slap in the face to our members, their families, their communities, and the American people who saved this company 15 years ago.”
Stellantis said the voluntary separation packages are being offered to salaried U.S. employees who have 15 or more years of service and work in certain organizations.
On Tuesday, a local UAW unit said Stellantis wants to cut approximately 3,500 hourly U.S. jobs in the voluntary offer.
In his email, Stewart said Stellantis needed to continue identifying efficiencies to make its operations more competitive, both inside and outside the company.
“The competition is fierce, and the cost of electrification cannot be passed on to the customer. Make no mistake, we intend to win in the marketplace,” he wrote.
In February, Stellantis indefinitely halted operations at an assembly plant in Illinois, citing rising costs of EV production.
The action affected about 1,350 workers at the Belvidere plant that built the Jeep Cherokee SUV and resulted in indefinite layoffs.
Earlier this month, General Motors Co said about 5,000 salaried workers accepted buyouts to leave the automaker after it cut a few hundred jobs in February.
Ford Motor Co recently announced significant job cuts in Spain, Germany and other parts of Europe and in August said it would cut a total of 3,000 salaried and contract jobs, mostly in North America and India.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Kirsten Donovan and Jonathan Oatis)
