Mexican Media Brands
GM: No Plan to Exit Korea as Labor Costs Jump Nearly 50%
General Motors Co. tells Reuters it won't close any of its four auto plants in South Korea, even though production is down and its labor costs there have soared almost 50% in five years.
#labor #workforcedevelopment
Share
General Motors Co. tells Reuters it won't close any of its four auto plants in South Korea, even though production is down and its labor costs there have soared almost 50% in five years.
Still, GM Korea CEO Sergio Rocha warns that Korea's rising labor costs "may impact our sustainability" in the country unless something can be done quickly.
Last year GM avoid a strike in Korea by promising to produce the next-generation Chevrolet Cruze there beginning in 2017. Reuters notes that two GM assembly plants in Korea are underutilized since GM decided to phase out its Chevrolet brand in Europe at the end of 2015. GM Korea supplied most of those vehicles.
Since then, Rocha says, the unit has offset about one-third of lost shipments to Europe by hiking exports of the Chevy Trax small crossover to the U.S.
RELATED CONTENT
-
Young Auto Engineers Say Their Employers Don’t Measure Up
Only one-third of U.S. automotive engineers below the age of 36 agree that their work experience matches the way their employers’ portray themselves publicly, according to new research.
-
CEO Barra Steps into GM-UAW Talks
General Motors Co. CEO Mary Barra met secretly with United Auto Workers union leaders yesterday afternoon, according to the New York Post, which first reported the event.
-
Skilled-Trade Workers Reject GM Contract, Ratification in Limbo
The United Auto Workers union says its production workers ratified a new four-year labor contract with General Motors Co. by a 58% margin.