DETROIT (AFX) - About 35,000 hourly workers at General Motors Corp. have taken buyout or early retirement offers, surpassing the company's expectations as it tries to cut costs by paring its hourly work force, GM Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner said Monday.
The job cuts will help GM's long-term turnaround plan as it cuts production capacity to match its current sales and market share. GM previously announced plans to cut its 113,000-person U.S. hourly work force by 30,000, closing 12 plants by 2008. GM said it now expects to reach its job reduction target by Jan. 1, 2007, about two years ahead of schedule.
'Over the past several months, we have accomplished a great deal in our strategy to reshape GM into a company that is more nimble, more global and built for long-term success,' Wagoner said in a statement.
The deadline for GM workers to file paperwork for the offers was Friday, but they have seven days to change their minds. Friday also was the deadline for workers at Delphi Corp., GM's former parts operation that is now a separate company, to file for early retirement incentives.
Delphi planned to release its numbers later Monday. Analysts and UAW local officials estimated that 10,000 to 12,000 people would leave Delphi. Delphi workers also have an additional buyout offer on the table with deadlines that are more than a month away.
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