(Reuters) -General Motors Co said on Thursday it was expecting to take a pre-tax charge of up to $1.5 billion in connection with its voluntary separation program (VSP).
The announcement comes as layoffs by U.S. companies in the past two months touch their highest since 2009, with the tech sector accounting for more than a third of the over 180,000 job cuts announced.
The automaker had in January disclosed a $2-billion cost cut target, including reducing employment through attrition.
Under the terms of the VSP, eligible employees who leave the company will be offered lump sum payments and other compensation based on their years of service, GM said.
It expects to take the bulk of the charge in the first half of 2023.
A GM executive in February said the company was cutting hundreds of executive-level and salaried jobs. Its peer Ford Motor Co also said it planned to eliminate 3,800 product development and administration jobs in Europe in the next three years.
(Reporting by Nathan Gomes in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur and Anil D’Silva)
