For folks that were around then as I was (and also impacted because my engineer father was unemployed for almost a year), this is not the worst in GM history. 16,000 were terminated back in 1974. Unfortunately Ford and Chrysler were hit too so job market was horrible!
https://www.nytimes.com/1974/12/19/archives/layoffs-at-gm-to-rise-by-16000-output-cut-planned-in-first-quarter.html
GM the k–ler of brands (Olds) etc and k–ler of cities , communities, families, marriages, people, hopes, dreams,careers, retirements, neighborhoods, (workers not their own) ie Bloomfield Hills, MI. Traitor to the nation that created and nurtured it. GM the great corporate MONSTER.
I was discharged from the Army in February 1975. The Detroit area was impacted by the first oil embargo in October, 1973 - more so than the rest of the country. When I came home many of my friends were already laid off from Dodge Main and Chevy Gear and Axle. At that time the MESC was giving extensions to unemployment compensation.
This was also the first time (that I remember) that rebates were offered for the purchase of a new vehicle. I'm not sure if job banks first appeared before or after this time.
The auto industry in Detroit never fully recovered.
Mary Barra was bragging about hiring 9000 new employees in the last 2 years. And that 40% of the employees had less than 5 years. You don't hire 9000 people then turn right around and fire 8000 if you have any business sense. You hire what you need to cover attrition and plan for growth beyond what your experienced employee base can provide.
I was 4 months short of retirement when they canned me on Tuesday.
I believe there are ways to run the business so it doesn't cycle so viciously.
The decision to eliminate Volt and other passenger cars sounds like a recipe to put GM on a repeat path to 1974 ... Sr. Leadership is short sighted in a world where oil prices can easily get back to $4-5 per gallon and have consumers looking for products GM doesn't have. Aldo remember that in 1974 GM was a much larger organization than it is now.
1974 oil embargo?