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General Motors offers voluntary buyouts to 18,000 workers.
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The GM logo is visible at the top of the central tower of the GM Renaissance Center in Detroit on Friday, June 18, 2010.(Photo: Patricia Beck, Detroit Free Press)Buy a photo

General Motors is expected to announce Monday the closure of its plant in Oshawa, Ontario, removing approximately 2,500 jobs. Other reports indicated that the number of jobs ranged from 2,200 to 3,000.

The company declined to comment on the reports.

CTV News Toronto has stated that this decision "would affect approximately 2,500 unionized positions and 300 salaried employees." However, thousands of other jobs could be affected in related areas, such as the manufacturing of auto parts. .

The report follows an aggressive cost reduction by the Detroit automaker, which is also expected to announce Monday how many of its North American employees have accepted a voluntary buyout offer. The Free Press reported that the company hoped to cut 7,000 white-collar jobs and should move to involuntary cuts if the number of workers advancing does not reach.

"For the first time in my memory, GM is leading the group of concrete restructuring measures and dominoes are really starting to fall," says Jon Gabrielsen, independent advisor to the automotive industry. "It may not be the last GM factory shutdown, and we have not seen Ford and FCA show their hands yet."

While Ford is downsizing its global white-collar workforce, it has not said anything about plant closures.

Auto sales hit record levels in 2016 and are slowing, as automakers report experiencing difficulties related to slowing sales and tariffs on steel and aluminum as part of the President Donald Trump's trade war.

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Workers at GM's US plants, particularly in Lordstown, Ohio, are worried about production cuts. GM is manufacturing the Cruze sedan in Lordstown as consumer demand evolves into SUVs. GM is not committed to investing the necessary funds to re-equip the Lordstown factory for a future vehicle.

GM manufactures Chevrolet Impala and Cadillac XTS cars as well as Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks in Oshawa, according to its website.

Outgoing Mayor of Oshawa, John Henry, tweeted Sunday night that he was "completely torn" by the news. "No one in Oshawa or in our area is immune to this information and the devastating announcement we hear arrives tomorrow morning."

Bloomberg noted that "production in Oshawa and other auto centers near Toronto has been shrinking in recent decades as North American production has shifted to cheaper centers in Mexico and the United States. United States".

This is a story in development and will be updated.

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