General Motors is cutting more than 1,300 jobs tied to its electric vehicle build-out, a stark reversal for a strategy that once cast Detroit’s Factory Zero as the centerpiece of a fast, profitable shift away from gasoline. The latest layoffs underscore how quickly the economics of battery plants and next-generation assembly lines have soured as EV demand cools and costs stay stubbornly high.
The retrenchment is not just a financial story. It is reshaping work in places that were promised a secure foothold in the green transition, from the Detroit-Hamtramck corridor to LORDSTOWN, Ohio, and raising hard questions about how much pain workers will bear as automakers recalibrate their ambitions.
Factory Zero’s promise collides with permanent cuts
Factory Zero was marketed as a flagship “Factory of the Future,” a showcase for how General Motors would build electric pickups and SUVs at scale while preserving middle-class jobs in Detroit. Instead, the plant has been repeatedly idled as the company slows EV production, with earlier shutdowns extended and some workers placed on indefinite layoff as demand for high-priced EVs fell short of projections. Company officials told CBS News Detroit that they would move ahead with permanent job cuts at Factory Zero Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Center, confirming that the earlier downtime was not a temporary blip but part of a deeper reset of EV output at the site.
As General Motors moves to permanently eliminate 1,140 jobs at its Factory Zero Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Center, workers and labor activists have warned that the cuts will ripple through suppliers and neighborhoods that had banked on a long EV boom. A separate local account described how the company is preparing to shed another 1,145 positions at Factory Zero unless there is a successful pushback, underscoring the scale of the retrenchment at a plant that was supposed to anchor GM’s Ultium-based future.
Ultium Cells layoffs expose strain in the EV supply chain
The latest wave of job losses is centered on the battery side of the business, where General Motors Co is unwinding some of its most aggressive bets. In LORDSTOWN, Ohio, the company has begun layoffs of more than 1,300 workers at Ultium Cells LLC, a joint venture battery plant that was touted as a cornerstone of GM’s domestic EV supply chain. Earlier, General Motors was already cutting thousands of jobs at its EV and battery operations, including more than 3,400 positions across Ultium Cells and Factory Zero as it throttled back production plans.
The battery pullback is not limited to Ohio. The Detroit-based automaker has also adjusted output at Ultium Cells facilities in Warren, Ohio, and Spring Hill, citing slower EV demand and an evolving regulatory environment that has complicated long-term planning. Those moves followed an earlier decision to lay off over 1,700 workers indefinitely as part of a broader response to cooling sales of electric models, a sign that the Ultium ecosystem is being resized before it ever reached full stride.
Financial reckoning and worker backlash
Behind the factory-level turmoil is a mounting financial bill that has forced General Motors to rethink the pace and scale of its EV rollout. The company has warned investors that it expects a $6B hit to profit tied to its electric vehicle pullback as demand plummets, and has told regulators it will record about $7.1 billion in fourth-quarter charges related to EVs and its China operations. While one-time charges can obscure near-term earnings, analysts have noted that this EV reset puts a $7.1B question mark over the quality of GM’s future earnings and raises doubts about how quickly the company can turn its electric portfolio profitable.
GM itself has acknowledged that its bet on EVs has made it bleed billions more than expected, warning that the losses will not stop anytime soon as it absorbs a special charge in its latest quarter. Executives have argued that lower costs are key to unlocking broader EV adoption and have pointed to new trims, including a $28,995 trim, as part of a strategy to reach more price-sensitive buyers, but that shift is arriving alongside deep cuts at the very plants that were supposed to deliver scale efficiencies.
Union tensions and the future of GM’s EV map
The human fallout from the restructuring has sharpened tensions between workers and their representatives. At Factory Zero, UAW Local 22 members have watched General Motors slash jobs and reduce production to one shift, with local leaders acknowledging that more than 1,100 employees across two locations are being affected. Some employees at the so-called Factory of the Future have complained that the Cuts to Half Capacity have left them feeling that the Workers Say Union is Not Doing Anything for Us, a blunt expression of frustration over how the transition has been managed.
For GM, the challenge is to reconcile those shop-floor realities with its public commitment to an all-electric future. The company continues to promote its EV roadmap and Ultium platform on its corporate site, highlighting investments and upcoming models on GM.com, even as it trims headcount at the plants that underpin that vision. The broader industrial landscape around Detroit and other auto hubs, mapped in places like Factory Zero’s neighborhood, is being reshaped in real time, with workers and communities left to navigate the gap between the promise of green manufacturing and the hard math of a slower-than-expected EV market.
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