Dive Brief:
- General Motors Co. is laying off 1,000 salaried employees from its software and services organization, the automaker confirmed in an email to Automotive Dive.
- The job cuts impact around 600 salaried employees at the automaker’s Warren Tech Center in Michigan and another 400 globally.
- A GM spokesperson said the layoffs were not based on individual performance or as a cost-cutting move. Rather it's intended to make the unit more efficient and agile as the automaker works to add more software and connected services to its vehicles.
Dive Insight:
Like other automakers, GM is targeting software and other digital services to become a core component of its future vehicle and customer experience, including offering software-based subscription services that can generate new revenue streams.
In March, GM announced that its digital services team, which was part of its software and services organization, was being reorganized to “achieve better consistency with revenue-generating, software and marketing functions,” according to a company memo obtained by the Detroit Free Press.
But with a reduced headcount, GM now seeks a more agile and efficient organization to accelerate software development timelines and improve quality, according to a GM spokesperson. However, the automaker declined to share how many employees work in its global software and services organization.
“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,” GM spokesperson Stuart Fowle said in an email to Automotive Dive. “As a result, we’re reducing certain teams within the Software and Services organization.”
In March, Edward Kummer, former chief digital officer, and Donald Chesnut, former chief experience officer, resigned from the automaker. Kummer guided GM’s growth strategy and accelerated the company’s investments in software.
In June, GM promoted Baris Cetinok and Dave Richardson to lead its software and services unit. Both were former Apple employees hired by the automaker in September 2023. The new leaders are working out of the company’s new Mountain View, California, Technical Center, which opened in May.
