All those zeros you see in the title represent a speculative, hypothetical number that General Motors could pay to its 74,000 hourly employees who ply their trade in the United States. Â Just how many workers is 74,000? Â That’d be the complete American hourly workforce of General Motors.
With the new UAW agreemement, GM hopes it can pay current employees to…. er, leave. Â Some may even agree to take $140,000 (which would raise that speculative number above) if they’ve worked for GM for more than ten years and will agree to waive any pension or healthcare possibilities. Â GM would need to hire new workers, but that new UAW agreement enables them to do so at lower wages. Â
Likewise, Ford is offering buyouts to its complete 54,000 American hourly workforce. Â Chrysler is using the same procedure but only in specific factories. Â
Some of General Motors’ employees – those close to retirement – could take between $46,000-$62,500 to get movin’. Â The attractive $140,000 figure aforementioned would be cut in half for those hourly workers who will ‘sever ties’ but have worked for the company for less than 10 years.
