Recent time-line:
GM had almost 58,000 salaried employees on the payroll in 2022.* GM announced late 2022 that they would not be laying people off, but then began to lay off thousands of IT workers in early 2023.
Throughout 2023, GM cried poor while negotiating a contract with the UAW but ended up giving them fantastical things like a 10% 401k match, huge singing bonuses and 23% raises in Q4.
Late Q4: GM saved up a pile of cash - $10 billion dollars and used it immediately after the UAW contract was signed for stock buybacks so that the SLT, which is compensated with stocks can boost the stock value and cash in big-time. This left GM with no cash to survive a recession, which is obvious to everyone in 2024.
Late Q4: The cowards in GM management decided they don't want to be seen as laying people off so they moved 58,000 people into an area that holds half that amount, predicating it on remote work. Then, a few weeks later told them to all return at the same time in January 2024, causing chaos and attrition. Then quietly, they would begin to liquidate various groups within GM, freeing up "resources" like money and seats.
Assumed hair-brained plan: Once the 58,000 is cut in half, GM can tell shareholders that they are lean and ready to take on the world with EV's, right as Chinese EV companies like NIO arrive to destroy GM's market share. It's a recipe for bankruptcy, from many angles.
Did I miss anything?
*https://www.statista.com/statistics/239843/employees-of-general-motors/
Prediction: Miss Leatherqueen will lobby her friends in Congress to block China from competing in the US EV market. Shen Yang will be displeased.
Bonus Prediction: As the recession unfolds, GM sales will drop precipitously, and will be forced to import tens of thousands of sub-compact cars (with GM logos) from it's Daewoo Motors factory in South Korea to meet American's demands for affordable ICE vehicles with great fuel economy. Zero x3 will be a distant memory but MBA students will study the marketing failure for decades. We will all watch GM stock price drop to $3 by late 2025.