Stellantis has cut 400 salaried engineering, tech, and software positions

Dodge and Chrysler’s parent company, Stellantis, has announced plans to lay off around 400 salaried workers from various positions across engineering, technology, and software.

In a statement on Friday, Stellantis said it was laying off roughly 2 percent of its jobs in engineering, tech, and software, largely due to “unprecedented uncertainties and heightened competitive pressures around the world,” along with “rigorous organizational reviews” (via Automotive News). The automaker also noted that it was looking to improve its overall efficiency as it hopes to main a competitive edge ahead of the launch of several electric vehicles (EVs) as part of its Dare Forward 2030 plan.

“Stellantis continues to make the appropriate structural decisions across the enterprise to improve efficiency and optimize our cost structure,” the automaker said in the statement.

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The company also said the cuts were intended to “better align resources while preserving the critical skills needed to protect our competitive advantage as we remain laser focused on implementing our EV product offensive and our Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan.”

The layoffs will take effect on March 31, and employees will receive severance, along with other assistance in the process of the job transition. Still, some expect more layoffs to come, with the number of workers laid off in this round being simply to get around regulations about layoff disclosures.

“This isn’t going to be the last,” said a person who was briefed on the situation to Automotive News on Friday. “They are going to be doing this in waves so they can game the WARN Act.”

The Worker Adjustment and Restraining Notification Act (WARN) is a federal requirement mandating that companies must provide 60-day advance public disclosure when laying off at least 500 workers within 30 days.

The news also comes about four months after the United Automotive Workers (UAW) successfully garnered record pay increases for workers, following historic six-week strikes against Stellantis, Ford, and General Motors (GM). The Stellantis Dare Forward 2030 plan is aiming for 100 percent of Stellantis auto sales to become battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) in Europe by 2030, targeting 50 percent BEVs in the U.S. by the same year.

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