Some 2,500 Workers Accept GM Korea Buyouts

About 2,500 General Motors Co. employees in South Korea—15% of the company’s workforce there—have applied for buyouts ahead of a massive restructuring, Reuters reports.

The package, which expired last week, provides three times a worker’s annual base pay, a credit of more than $9,000 toward a new car and as much as $12,300 for college tuition. GM warned workers last month not to expect a better offer later.

Union sources tell Reuters more than 900 of the workers who accepted the package are assigned to GM Korea’s factory in Gunsan. The company plans to close that facility in May. The fates of GM’s three other factories in Korea remain unclear.

GM Korea amassed an operating loss of 3 trillion won ($2.8 billion) over the past four years. The company has scheduled a new round of talks tomorrow with its union about the workers at Gunsan who declined the buyout.

Reuters cites an internal GM document that says the company hopes to eventually reduce its workforce in Korea by 5,000 jobs. The company also has promised to stabilize production if the Korean government provided $2.8 billion in financial aid.​​​​