Posted on 05/13/2026 6:17:36 PM PDT by Libloather
General Motors quietly laid off about 500 to 600 employees this week in a sweeping global shakeup that reportedly blindsided workers with unsettling emails, abrupt virtual meetings and growing fears that artificial intelligence is reshaping the automaker’s workforce.
Many of the affected employees — largely IT workers in Michigan, Texas and other locations around the globe — learned their fate during brief meetings that some workers described as cold and scripted.
“No appreciation or empathy. No questions. Nothing,” one laid-off employee who spent more than a decade at GM told CNBC.
“GM is transforming its Information Technology organization to better position the company for the future,” a spokesperson for the Detroit-based auto giant told The Post.
“As part of that work, we have made the difficult decision to eliminate certain roles globally. We are grateful for the contributions of the employees affected and are committed to supporting them through this transition.”
The cuts came as the Detroit automaker restructures its information technology operations and hunts for workers with more specialized skill sets, including expertise in AI.
Workers inside the company said they had spent months being encouraged to use AI tools more heavily in their day-to-day work before the layoffs hit Monday.
“They’re going to push AI for everyday work and everything else,” a veteran programmer and data scientist who lost their job told CNBC.
“I’ve seen it firsthand. It can make you much more productive, as a programmer. It can really help you get more work done, but AI isn’t going to do you any good if you don’t know the business.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
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“Hiring H1Bs
Watch”
Without a doubt.
Welcome to the Digital Age.
Live by the bit, die by the bit.
Companies these days do just this very thing, just dump and run....straight to AI or least that is the claim. In fact it is bad, over paid management with no regard to the employees who make these companies...
So we asked the electricians if they would build the networks on the floors.
They came aboard immediately.
Even offered their list of preferred union contractors for each location, shop steward contacts and introduction emails/letters.
Their requirements were simple: They placed the cabinets. Their contractors pulled and certified cable. They placed all equipment in the cabinets and escorted the techs who configured it.
It turned out a success...all while GM IT watched it unfold.
GM should concentrate on their creativity and innovation. IMHO the only way they will unseat the status of foreign automakers is to out-innovate them.
GM had tons of intellectual property on fuel cells for example, but lacked the corporate vision to take it anywhere. At this point, it doesn’t matter if they reduce their labor costs by 80%. Without innovation and creativity they will just be considered a second-level car brand.
Well, they don’t have to be nice to you when they can you. I was once laughed at by the guy who escorted me to the mass layoff meeting - a guy I had thought was a decent guy. Didn’t even get the proverbial cardboard box to carry my stuff out, was just escorted to my car. This was during the Obie from Nairobi recession in 2008.
Very true.
I have gone through massive layoffs at my company since our business was highly cyclic. One massive layoff I still remember well, with 1/3 of employees let go, including my boss. His office had lots of bookshelves full of books and engineering manuals. I came to work on Monday to see his office completely empty. What a shocker.
You are exactly correct. There is no such thing as empathetic layoff. It is capitalism at work. That is how business stays alive.
AI won’t wash my car, cook breakfast, load laundry machines, install a window A/C (I just did today in bedroom window), paint my house, change oil in my car yada yada yada.
EDS wasn’t with GM very long. Was that during the Saturn project?
Live by the bit, die by the bit.
Bit by bit by bit by bit by bit by bit
Sha-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-tee-da-la-tee-da-la-tee-da
Watch these workers vote for a socialist president in 2028.
Welcome to corporate HR.
The political implications are what’s worrisome. These workers, and others like them, will likely take out their frustration as voters in upcoming elections.
“Was that during the Saturn project?”
I don’t know.
Ours was a proof of concept for a new industrial network architecture throughout the enterprise.
First implemented at scale at the Hummer plant in Shreveport.
Already many people in other countries did. Now they all regret it without exception. Socialism sounds good in theory but has never created prosperity anywhere.
Indeed, but this is Michigan. Rust belt. Right? Not sure they’ve been witnessing the promised prosperity of capitalism in recent decades...
Government Motors screwing up?
No problemo, I will never buy their crap.
May be Michigan should learn about capitalism from Florida.
Perhaps...I posted yesterday about how West Virginia's opioid crisis is *finally* taking a turn for the better. WV is very red, with the occasional blue dog Democrat at the helm...As are numerous other states that are not doing too well. (Mississippi, Louisiana, etc...) Medical care and access to it being another barometer of living standards, in addition to the state of infrastructure, etc...
At a certain point we need to measure Trump's own presidency by what's 'trickling down' from his policies as well.
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