By David Shepardson
(Reuters) – General Motors said on Monday it was laying off more than 1,000 workers at its software and service units worldwide.
GM, confirming the layoffs originally reported by CNBC, said in a statement that “as we build GM’s future, we must simplify for speed and excellence, make bold choices and prioritize the investments that will have the greatest impact.”
CNBC said the cuts include roughly 600 jobs at GM’s engineering campus near Detroit. GM, which said about half of the cuts are in the U.S., said the cuts were not due to cost-cutting but came after a review of operations following the March departure of Mike Abbott, vice president of software and services, who left due to for health reasons.
Abbott, a former Apple executive, was hired in 2023 to head GM’s software development efforts amid a surge in investment by the automaker in electric vehicles and subscription-based services.
In April 2023, GM said about 5,000 of its employees were buying to leave the company as it worked to meet a $2 billion cost-cutting goal after it cut hundreds of management and payroll jobs in February 2023.
(Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington Nathan Gomes in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva and Chizu Nomiyama)