General Motors To Lay Off Nearly 15,000 Workers, Close Plants

(CBS/AP) -- General Motors will lay off 14,700 factory and white-collar workers in North America and put five plants up for possible closure as it restructures to cut costs and focus more on autonomous and electric vehicles.

The reduction includes 8,100 white-collar workers, some of whom will take buyouts and others who will be laid off. Most of the affected factories build cars that won't be sold in the U.S. after next year. They could close or they could get different vehicles to build. They will be part of contract talks with the United Auto Workers union next year.

Plants without products include assembly plants in Detroit; Lordstown, Ohio; and Oshawa, Ontario. Also affected are transmission factories in Warren, Michigan, as well as Baltimore.

About 6,000 factory workers could lose jobs in the U.S. and Canada, although some could transfer to truck plants.

CBS News reports that the layoffs make up about 15 percent of GM's workforce. The company offered buyouts to 18,000 white-collar workers in October, but hasn't said how many accepted.

GM in recent years has worked to slice costs, with a goal of $6.5 billion in cuts this year alone. The company has scaled back production at its plants, with its hourly workforce down by 4,000 people in 2017, according to GM's annual report. The automaker in June ended the second shift at its factory in Lordstown, Ohio, cutting 1,500 workers.

(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)