Mark Moran
Mon, November 13, 2023
Amid cooling projections for EVs, the automaker Stellantis has offered buyouts to 6,400 of its white-collar, non-union workers in the United States. Photo by James Atoa/UPI
Nov. 13 (UPI) -- The automaker Stellantis has offered to buy out 6,400 of its white-collar workers in the United States, citing the transition to electric vehicles and a dodgy car market. That's about half of the company's 12,700 salaried employees not represented by the United Auto Workers.
"As the U.S. automotive industry continues to face challenging market conditions, Stellantis is taking the necessary structural actions to protect our operations and the company," Stellantis spokesperson Jodi Tinson said in a statement Monday.
"As we prepare for the transition to electric vehicles, Stellantis announced today that it will offer a voluntary separation package to assist those non-represented employees who would like to separate or retire from the company to pursue other interests with a favorable package of benefits," Tinson added.
The buyouts are based on years of service and offer employees, who have until Dec. 8 to make a decision, a lump sum payout. Workers with between five and nine years would receive three months of base pay, 10-14 years would get six months pay, those with 15-19 years would get nine months pay and those with 20 years or more would receive the equivalent of a year's salary, according to terms of the offer.
This is the second round of buyouts this year. Stellantis recently reached an agreement with the UAW on a new labor agreement for its union-backed workers who build the Jeep, Ram, Chrysler, Dodge and Fiat brands.
Stellantis offered buyouts to 2,500 U.S. salaried employees and 31,000 hourly workers in the United States and Canada. The company has not said how many people took those buyouts.
High interest rates are slowing car sales as potential buyers struggle to come up with higher monthly payments. Those factors are blamed for a 1% drop in Stellantis sales in September.
This comes at a time when the automaker is poised to release its first fleet of all-electric vehicles in North America, which the company has characterized as "40% more expensive than internal combustion engine counterparts."
That release comes as the auto industry is slowing once optimistic projections on EV sales due to stubbornly high sticker prices and an insufficient network of charging stations.
Market analysts have said Stellantis has talked about cost-cutting in order to fund their EV investments.
"They're probably focusing on people working in areas related to internal combustion engine vehicles where there's less future investment in those products," Sam Abuelsamid, principal e-mobility analyst at market research firm Guidehouse Inc. said.
Mon, November 13, 2023
By David Shepardson
Nov 13 (Reuters) - Chrysler-parent Stellantis said Monday it is offering 6,400 U.S. salaried employees voluntary buyouts as it works to cut costs amid the transition to electric vehicles and agreeing to a new United Auto Workers contract.
The buyouts would be about half the company's salaried U.S. employees not represented by a union, which is currently 12,700. Another 2,500 Stellantis U.S. salaried workers are unionized and are not being offered the current buyout.
Salaried employees must have at least five years of experience to be offered a voluntary departure package. Employees agreeing to take the incentive would depart before the end of December.
In April, Stellantis said it was offering voluntary exit packages to 33,500 U.S. employees. That offer covered 31,000 U.S. hourly workers and about 2,500 salaried workers. It is also offered some employees in Canada voluntary buyouts.
Stellantis Chief Operating Officer Mark Stewart told employees in April a review of its operations "has made it clear that we must become more efficient."
In October 2022, Stellantis offered voluntary buyouts to its U.S. salaried employees who were aged 55 or older and had worked for the automaker at least 10 years.
Under the UAW contract, the company agreed to offer $50,000 buyouts for veteran production and skilled trade members. It will offer buyouts in 2024 and 2026.
Stellantis said on Oct. 31 it would seek to offset a significant financial hit from strikes in North America that led to big pay increases and was looking at potential cost cuts.
Stellantis CFO Natalie Knight said the six-week strikes were unexpectedly long and would cost the group in the full-year 2023 less than 750 million euros ($800 million) in terms of profitability and around 3 billion euros in terms of revenue.
Stellantis did not provide estimates on extra labor costs it will have to bear in the future, following new agreements with unions in North America.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Leslie Adler and Lisa Shumaker)
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