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SAIC Motor Corp. Ltd. reportedly plans to lay off workers at its electric vehicle unit and joint ventures with General Motors and Volkswagen. If the plan is finalized, thousands of people will lose their jobs.
According to Reuters, two people who are aware of the matter said that SAIC Motor is considering terminating workers at its JV companies and EV division this year. This is a large-scale reduction, which is said to be rare in state-owned companies in China.
Job Cuts at Auto Joint Ventures
The Chinese automobile manufacturer headquartered in Anting, Shanghai, is looking to slash about 30% of its workforce at SAIC-GM and 10% at SAIC Volkswagen. The sources added that the company will also reduce the number of its workers at its electric vehicle brand, Rising Auto, and more than half of the total employees are set to be let go.
SAIC Motor will not terminate the employees all at once, but they will be out of work before the year 2025. A large number of workers will be laid off based on the company's strict performance standards. According to the sources, other low-rated staff who voluntarily resign will be offered payouts.
SAIC Motor's Response
The original news was only shared by insiders, so the media approached SAIC Motor to confirm the reports about the job cuts. While it is true that the company is losing its market share to its EV rivals, such as Tesla, Forex Live reported that the SAIC Motor's spokesman denied it is downsizing. Through the representative, the automaker said there are currently no set targets for dismissals, but it did not comment on the questions about pushing low-performing staff to resign.
On the other hand, the spokesperson of GM in China said it is "inaccurate" to say that SAIC-GM is dismissing 30% of its workforce but did not provide other details. For VW China Group, it also said that it is not planning to cut 10% of its workers.
Meanwhile, SAIC Motor pointed out that rather than reductions, it hired 2,000 new workers in the first two months of this year. The firm further revealed that its focus in 2024 is on software and new energy vehicles, so the recruits will likely be deployed to these projects.
Photo by: SAIC Motor Website
