General Motors is planning to offload nearly 1,000 workers worldwide. The automaker announced these job cuts on Friday in an attempt to reduce costs as the company navigates an increasingly competitive global automobile market.

The firm informed the employees about the layoffs early on Friday, reported AP. The decision mostly impacted white collar workers and the company confirmed the job cuts via a statement. However, it didn’t provide many details about the same.

The official statement read, “We need to optimize for speed and excellence. This includes operating with efficiency, ensuring we have the right team structure and focusing on our top priorities.”

Notably, the automakers have been trying to navigate the transition to electric vehicles both in the US and globally. These companies have been trying to understand where to infuse capital and how quickly the change will happen.

New EV sales in the US climbed up 7.2 per cent in September to touch 936,000, data from Motorintelligence.com showed. This growth remained slower than the 47 per cent increase seen in 2023. However, EV sales this year are expected to cross last year’s record of 1.19 million, and EVs this year are contributing to 7.9 per cent of the sales, against 7.6 per cent clocked a year earlier.

GM employs nearly 150,000 individuals worldwide, and as of last year end, the firm had a workforce of 76,000 white collar workers. Last month, Paul Jacobson, CFO, noted that this company remains on track to complete its goal of slashing $2 billion in fixed costs by the end of the year.

Last year, the company provided buyout to nearly 5,000 white-collar workers at GM. Back then, the firm said this was enough to help restrict job cuts. These buyouts were offered to white-collar employees with a minimum of five years of service, and global executives who have been with the firm for at least two years.