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General Motors GM-2.12% is being criticized by some of the more than 1,000 software and services division workers it laid off earlier this week for how it handled the situation.
“We were all used as stepping stones, to build exceptional products, industry-first tech and leapfrog our competitors,” a product manager affected by GM’s cuts wrote on LinkedIn. “All for what? A pat on the back and ‘good job’.”
The Detroit automaker’s layoffs affected workers around the world, including some 600 workers in Warren, Michigan, where GM has a tech campus home to more than 21,000 staffers. Impacted workers were notified on Monday morning, CNBC reported.
Several workers only realized they were laid off when they discovered they no longer had access to their computers or email. At least one said that they had lost access to necessary systems, but had not officially been laid off as of Wednesday.
One former engineer wrote on LinkedIn that they found out when they arrived to work Monday and noticed their badge was deactivated. Workers over at Elon Musk’s Tesla TSLA-0.44% experienced something similar earlier this year when the company laid off more than 10% of its workforce. Employees at Tesla’s Sparks, Nevada, factory were forced to wait for hours to enter as security checked badges at the door and turned away people who had been suddenly been laid off.
“I arrived at work this morning to find my badge deactivated, my access to [Microsoft MSFT+2.64%] Teams and Outlook revoked, and direction from GM Security to leave the property,” the ex-engineer wrote, adding that he couldn’t say goodbye or thank his coworkers. “ I couldn’t do anything but stand there in shock.”
GM said in a statement that it “must simplify for speed and excellence, make bold choices, and prioritize the investments that will have the greatest impact” as it plans for the future. “We are grateful to those who helped establish a strong foundation that positions GM to lead moving forward,” it added.
Approximately 46% of GM’s workforce, about 76,000 people, were salaried employees as of December, according to the firm’s annual report. In April 2023, some 5,000 salaried workers took buyouts as the automaker aimed to hit a $2 billion cost-cutting target.
Monday’s cuts come after GM reported a better-than-expected second quarter, with revenue of $47.9 billion and net income of $2.9 billion, beating estimates. Adjusted pre-tax income came in at $4.4 billion for the April to June period. The company also raised its expected adjusted earnings for the year to between $13 billion and $15 billion, up from $12.5 billion to $14.5 billion, and raised targets for operating cash flow and earnings per share.
“We are nothing but numbers to them, fat to be trimmed off in the pursuit of the almighty dollar,” one laid-off worker wrote, before citing GM’s strong earnings. “We were not even given the common decency to say goodbye, just thrown onto the curb like useless trash.”