General Motors cuts some 350 jobs in Thailand operations

[rooster59]

General Motors cuts some 350 jobs in Thailand operations

By Chayut Setboonsarng

 

FILE PHOTO: Cars are seen on display inside the General Motors Corp world headquarters in downtown in Detroit, May 28, 2009. REUTERS/Mark Blinch

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - General Motors <GM.N> has cut about 350 jobs from its Thai subsidiary's operations, a labour representative said on Friday, slashing more than 15% of the workforce for the U.S. automaker that has two factories in Thailand.

 

Thailand is a major manufacturing hub in the competitive Southeast Asian auto market.

 

Boonyeun Sookmai, coordinator for Labor Relations Group for Eastern Thailand, told Reuters more than 350 employees and contractors at General Motors (Thailand) were affected by the cuts, which employees and contractors were told about this week.

 

GM did not confirm the number of layoffs but said in a statement it was "necessary to right-size" its operations. 

 

"We are taking every measure to support employees whose roles are impacted," the statement said.

 

It added: "There is no change to our ongoing business in Thailand – we continue to build and sell world-class trucks, SUVs and engines for Thailand and the world."

 

The company has about 1,900 employees in Thailand, according to the Bangkok Post, in operations that include a vehicle assembly plant that produces 180,000 units per year.

 

Thailand is a regional vehicle production and export base for the world's top vehicle manufacturers, including Toyota, Honda and Harley-Davidson. 

 

The auto industry accounts for about 10% of the Thai economy and has been one of a few growth drivers at a time of falling exports.

 

Previously booming domestic auto sales have cooled in Thailand with finance firms using stricter lending criteria. Thai domestic car sales contracted in July for a second straight month, down 1.1% from a year earlier.

 

GM has two plants in Rayong, a province on Thailand's eastern seaboard, for vehicle assembly and another for powertrain and engines. Its vehicle assembly plant began operations in 2000 and the latter in 2011.

 

The plants in Thailand produces vehicles for the domestic market and export under the Chevrolet and Holden nameplates.

 

(Writing by Kay Johnson; Editing by Frances Kerry)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-08-31

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[BestB]

Yup, economy doing ok , nothing to

worry about . Well done to Big P and Co, economic challenges tackled and dealt with ????

[yellowboat]

4 hours ago, BestB said:

Yup, economy doing ok , nothing to

worry about . Well done to Big P and Co, economic challenges tackled and dealt with ????

When you start to see the Japanese start to lay people off, you will know bad things are about to happen.  General wet blanket will have failed stupendously.

Edited August 31, 2019 by yellowboat

[heybuz]

 

It added: "There is no change to our ongoing business in Thailand – we continue to build and sell world-class trucks, SUVs and engines for Thailand and the world."

 

they said the same in Australia after the government subsidised them for years then closed and left.

[JimHuaHin]

1 hour ago, yellowboat said:

When you start to see the Japanese start to lay people off, you will know bad things are about to happen.  General wet blanket will have failed stupendously.

 

 

Some Japanese firms in Thailand have already laid off Thai workers, and at least one factory south of Bangkok has laid off most of its Thai workforce and imported cheap Cambodian workers to replace them.

 

[jethro69]

Have been to Pantip this week. There you can see quite clearly the current state of Thai economy. There were times when it was difficult to manage your way through all the people. My guess 70% of all people inside were working there. 1st floor has now much larger room between the stalls, so fewer stalls. 2nd floor looks a bit than years ago, so did not pay much attention. 3rd floor to 50% empty and some (at least one of the larger) were busy packing.

4th floor 4-5 stalls remaining.

Saw an Xiaomi Mi stand there, did read in a news article that the Mi9 was released on Amazon for just aver 300EU equals 10000 bath, same device in Pantip 13500 bath. BTW Thai VAT 7% German 19%

[Ketyo]

Thailand can't be a major part of an international supply chain when it struggles to export parts and finished goods at a reasonable price because of the strong baht.

 

Chanocha is crashing the economy with his import tariffs and unsustainable export subsidies. 

 

But then, how could the head of the army be expected to know anything about economic development?

 

He only knows one thing: Control of the people by enforcing the laws. Including laws that are moronic and outdated.

 

Thailand is not a developmental state. It is a controlling state. Just like Burma used to be.

[KMartinHandyman]

 
It added: "There is no change to our ongoing business in Thailand – we continue to build and sell world-class trucks, SUVs and engines for Thailand and the world."
 
they said the same in Australia after the government subsidised them for years then closed and left.

And GM Detroit moved some production to China after the U.S. taxpayers bailed them out of bankruptcy.

[gearbox]

7 hours ago, yellowboat said:

When you start to see the Japanese start to lay people off, you will know bad things are about to happen.  General wet blanket will have failed stupendously.

Yep probably GM is just continuing to lose market share. Their market share in Australia is going lower and lower.

However if Toyota starts laying off people it could be a bad sign.

[hotchilli]

9 hours ago, gearbox said:

However if Toyota starts laying off people it could be a bad sign.

If any of the Japan auto makers start looking at Thailand to reduce production or cut costs by lettings staff go... there will people looking very hard at the government asking very difficult questions!

[metisdead]

A Brexit troll post has been removed. 

[thailand49]

10 hours ago, KMartinHandyman said:

And GM Detroit moved some production to China after the U.S. taxpayers bailed them out of bankruptcy.

Right, isn't it tiresome continue to bail this company out then move things overseas.  Just let them fail and let China deal with their problems. GM makes money only when they get bail out perfect kind of company to be communist run.

[Tropposurfer]

<deleted> cars anyway, always were always will be. The Yanks have never made even a halfway decent car ... except for the military jeep that is. <deleted> handling, <deleted> gearboxes, deplorable body and finishing, next to nil safety, gas guzzling heaps, the list goes on.  

If these Neanderthals had any brain capacity at all they'd be headlong into electric charging infrastructure, and elec-cars and be setting up for other financial glut reaching into the next 100 years. 

[CGW]

No one else thinking that the "job cuts" were a result of "artificial intelligence" (automation) taking over? It has long been the plan for "AI" to take over as many jobs as possible, leading to even higher profits for the corporations that run the world. 

[lvr181]

On 9/1/2019 at 9:41 AM, hotchilli said:

If any of the Japan auto makers start looking at Thailand to reduce production or cut costs by lettings staff go... there will people looking very hard at the government asking very difficult questions!

General (AKA PM) will not be listening. But to be kind, perhaps he will hear but will fail to understand. 

 

High value baht means that all the rich can afford to buy & import more "goodies" while the poor and the exporters become poorer.