China's SAIC aims to slash jobs at GM, VW ventures and EV unit, sources say

 China's SAIC Motor aims to cut thousands of jobs this year at its joint ventures with General Motors and Volkswagen and at an electric-car unit, two people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

The state-owned automaker hopes to cut 30% of employees at SAIC-GM, 10% at SAIC Volkswagen and more than half at its Rising Auto EV subsidiary, the people said.

Large-scale workforce reductions are rare at state-owned Chinese firms and come amid a cut-throat automotive price war as the nation's economy falters. The cutbacks also reflect the explosion of electric vehicles in China, a sector where SAIC and its foreign partners have rapidly lost market share to Tesla and privately owned Chinese automakers led by BYD.

The staff reductions won't happen all at once in mass layoffs but are targeted for 2024, the sources said. A large portion will come through implementing stricter performance standards and offering payouts to lower-rated employees who resign, they said.

A SAIC spokesperson said Reuters' "speculation" about staff downsizing is "not true" and that the company would not set targets for worker dismissals. SAIC did not respond to questions about efforts to get low-performers to resign or other staff-reduction strategies.

The company added that it had recruited 2,000 employees in the first two months of 2024 who will focus on software and new-energy vehicles.

A GM spokesperson in China said it would be "inaccurate" to say SAIC-GM is "reducing its workforce by 30%" but declined to elaborate. A VW China Group spokesperson said it did not plan “layoffs” and that it was “incorrect” to say SAIC-VW plans to cut 10% of its workforce.

The VW spokesperson declined to comment on whether the company had changed its employee performance reviews but called them a “long-term mechanism” and said SAIC-VW provides counseling and resources aiming to ensure “every employee can be qualified for their job requirements.” FALLING SALES SAIC has been China’s biggest automaker for nearly two decades but saw its sales fall by 16% during the first two months of 2024 from a year earlier, according to an SAIC filing. It employed 207,000 people at its parent company and major subsidiaries at the end of 2023, according to SAIC’s annual report.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/exclusive-chinas-saic-aims-slash-234308964.html