According to an article in the Star-Telegram, General Motors announced today that they will implement another 1600 job losses which will affect their white-collar workforce.

The article quoted GM North America President Troy Clarke:

“In these unprecedented times, GM is reinventing every aspect of our business, including our organizational size and structure, to create a lean and agile company,” Clarke wrote in the e-mail obtained by The Associated Press.

The cuts may go even deeper as GM moves toward the government-imposed deadline. CEO Fritz Henderson said Friday that the company will close more factories beyond the five announced in February. Factories to be closed have not yet been identified.
“There is no question, as we look at our revised plan to go deeper and go faster in our operational restructuring, there will be further reductions in manpower, people, that are going to affect communities, affect plants and people, both on hourly and the salaried side of the business,” Henderson told reporters.

GM has already implemented 3,400 job losses last month which is part of the 47,000 job losses planned for this year as the automaker tries to fight off bankruptcy. But bankruptcy may still be in GM’s future despite the massive job losses. And although bankruptcy may save GM at least in some form, it most likely won’t save the workers facing job losses. What’s most striking about this GM situation is that work in the auto industry (especially with the big three) was always considered “safe life-time jobs.” Many of the jobs at GM are unionize so they enjoy a higher level of protection than the average American job. The job losses at GM is a wakeup call to all American workers that we must become financially prepared for possible job losses no matter how secure our jobs may seem. Reducing, paying off or even discharging debt in bankruptcy can be a part of any worker’s plan to become financially prepared for job losses or any other emergency that may strain your finances.

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