One of Detroit’s Big 3 Is Making Its Next Big Move

The autoworkers strike is over, but one of Detroit’s Big Three is now making another move it hopes will help its bottom line. The Wall Street Journal reports that on Monday, Mark Stewart, CEO of Chrysler parent company Stellantis, announced in a meeting that the company is offering buyouts to 6,400 or so salaried nonunion workers, or about half of their white-collar workforce. Per the AP, the range of buyout payouts would range from eligible workers with five to nine years of working for Stellantis receiving three months of base pay, all the way up to a full year of base pay for those with at least 20 years of service.

“As the US automotive industry continues to face challenging market conditions, Stellantis is taking the necessary structural actions to protect our operations,” the company says in a statement, per the Journal. Reuters notes that in April, Stellantis offered voluntary exit packages to more than 33,000 workers—31,000 or so of them hourly workers and about 2,500 of them salaried employees. At the time, Stewart said it was “clear that we must become more efficient.”

The decision comes as the company, which makes Jeep, Ram, and Dodge vehicles, preps to enter the electric vehicle market and expects to see higher labor costs in both the United States and Canada; some workers in the latter country are also being offered buyouts. Those who are offered the exit packages are expected to have a few weeks to make their decision, but they’d exit the company before the new year. (Read more Stellantis stories.)