General Motors Corp., in the latest example of the severity of the recession, plans to make moves in its ailing North American automotive operations that could include plant closings and layoffs.
GM issued a terse statement Wednesday saying it planned to detail moves next week designed to hasten a return to profitability of its core automotive business."In connection with the actions related to improving GM's North American capacity utilization, management is continuing to develop the elements of a possible charge to earnings," GM Chairman Robert Stempel said in a statement.
He said the board hasn't decided on the size of the charge or when it would be taken.
It's expected that GM will announce the closing of some active assembly plants, and it's likely that some of GM's hundreds of component factories also will be shuttered or consolidated.
Employment levels vary, but an assembly plant has around 2,500 hourly employees. But when an assembly plant shuts down, it could affect several component plants and layoffs could grow dramatically.
GM has 33 North American assembly plants making cars and light trucks for the U.S. market, far more than Ford Motor Co.'s 20 factories and Chrysler Corp.'s 14.
It's also likely GM will announce cuts in its white-collar work force beyond the 9,000 jobs Stempel already has said would be eliminated by the end of 1993.
The automaker currently has about 94,000 salaried workers.
There have been rumors circulating around Detroit and Wall Street that there could be some changes in top-level GM management. But company spokesman Terry Sullivan said no such announcement was planned.