With the announcement last month that General Motors would close the Gunsan plant in South Korea, the automaker launched a voluntary redundancy program for workers. With the program now over, around 2,500 workers accepted the automaker’s offer. The figure equals roughly 15 percent of the workforce, Reuters reported on Sunday.
The package includes three times a worker’s base salary, money for their children’s college tuition and $9,000 towards the purchase of a new car.
The offer closed last Friday and GM Korea urged workers to accept the package, noting this would be the only time the automaker would offer such a deal. Now, the remaining workforce’s future hangs in the balance. GM said it will decide the future of its other Korean plants in the coming weeks.
However, the automaker also proposed a $2.8 billion investment in South Korea over the next 10 years. The investment requires support and co-investment from the South Korean government, which it has yet to commit to. The proposal would bring two new vehicles to South Korea for production and a compact car’s engine.
It would also create 1,100 new jobs over 10 years, but GM reportedly plans to cut the South Korean workforce by 5,000 in any restructuring deal.
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