Stellantis offers voluntary retirement plans to 33,500 US employees

Jakarta (ANTARA) – Chrysler’s parent company Stellantis NV said it is offering a voluntary retirement package to its 33,500 American (US) employees to improve the company’s operations.

The offering includes 31,000 U.S. hourly workers and about 2,500 salaried workers. Stellantis did not say how many jobs it will eliminate, as reported by Reuters on Wednesday (26/4).

Stellantis also provides voluntary retirement plans for certain employees in Canada.

Stellantis CEO Mark Stewart told employees in an email seen by Reuters that a review of the company’s operations “has made it clear that we need to be more efficient”.

The president of the United Auto Workers (UAW), Shawn Fain, criticized the pension fund.

“Stellantis’ attempt to cut thousands of jobs while making billions of dollars in profits is disgusting. It is a blow to our members, their families, their communities and the American people who saved this company 15 years ago,” he said. Fine.

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Stellantis said the voluntary separation package is offered to U.S. workers with salaried status who have worked for 15 years or more and work for certain organizations.

On Tuesday, the UAW’s local unit said Stellantis wanted to lay off about 3,500 U.S. hourly workers in a voluntary offer.

In his email, Stewart said that Stellantis needed to continue to realize efficiencies to make its operations more competitive, both internally and externally.

“Competition is fierce, and the cost of electrification cannot be borne by the customer. Make no mistake, we intend to win the market,” Stewart wrote.

In February, Stellantis indefinitely halted operations at its assembly plant in Illinois, citing the high costs of producing electric vehicles. The move affected approximately 1,350 workers at the Belvidere plant that manufactures the Jeep Cherokee SUV and resulted in indefinite layoffs.

Earlier this month, General Motors Co said about 5,000 salaried workers had received buyouts to leave the company after laying off several hundred jobs in February.

Ford Motor Co recently announced major job cuts in Spain, Germany and other parts of Europe and in August said it would cut a total of 3,000 salaried and contract workers, mainly in North America and India.

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