Chrysler LLC is expected to fire roughly 300 salaried employees as soon as Friday in a bid to meet a target of cutting 1,000 white-collar jobs by the end of September.The auto maker announced the job cuts in July and has offered buyouts and early-retirement packages to entice employees to leave the company. But so far it has not gotten enough people to take the offers to meet its target, the company said in a statement confirming the impending move.
"We're bracing for black Friday," said one Chrysler engineer, who did not want to be named. "The word is we'll get the news tomorrow morning."
In its statement, Chrysler said about three-quarters of the 1,000 jobs have been eliminated through voluntary-severance agreements and that the balance would be achieved through involuntary cuts. The majority of the people who will be fired will be informed on Friday, it said.
News of the impending cuts was reported Thursday by Automotive News.
Chrysler is struggling financially amid a slump in overall auto sales and a sudden shift in consumer tastes to small cars and away from the trucks and sports-utility vehicles that Chrysler, General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. rely on for a large portion of their North American revenue.
In the first eight months of the year, Chrysler's U.S. vehicle sales have fallen 24%, and the declines have accelerated in recent months. In August, Chrysler sales fell 34.5%.
The company, which was acquired a year ago by Cerberus Capital Management LP, has been trying to slash costs to reduce its losses and offset the drop in sales. It has sold or leases some properties, slashed the number of contract workers it employs and idled a few plants and eliminated shifts at others.
Chrysler is also trying to lure union workers to take buy-outs or early retirements at several plants -- the main way it is allowed to eliminate hourly jobs under its current labor contact.
Salaried workers, such as the ranks of engineers, designers and middle managers in its Auburn Hills, Mich., headquarters, can be fired if not enough people agree to severance deals.
With a number of firings looming, morale at Chrysler is "lower than low," another employee said.
