General Motors will lay off an additional 96 workers from its Janesville plant by late August or early September. The workers are being laid off because of the company’s slowing of the Janesville plant, which will now produce 44 vehicles per shift. It currently makes 58 vehicles per shift. The workers who will be laid off are being used as vacation replacements until late August or September, said Chris Lee, a GM spokesperson.
Earlier this month, GM announced that it would cease producing trucks and SUVs at the Janesville plant by 2010, eliminating about 2,600 jobs. The company will also close plants in Moraine, Ohio; Oshawa, Ontario; and Silao, Mexico. GM has been operating a plant in Janesville since 1923.
The closures are part of a series of strategic decisions GM is making to shift its product line from trucks and sport utility vehicles to more fuel-efficient cars. General Motors also announced yesterday that it was stalling plans to revamp its line of large SUVs and trucks, because of reduced demand caused by skyrocketing oil prices.
