GM cutting 10,000 white-collar jobs

General Motors is cutting 10,000 white-collar workers around the world, the company said Tuesday.

Most of the job reductions are expected to occur this year, as the Detroit-based automaker reduces its white-collar staff to 63,000 from the current 73,000.

The reductions will vary by global region, depending on the staffing levels in the area and on market conditions, the company said.

The company hasn't yet worked out details of the impact on GM Canada, which has about 2,000 white-collar workers, a company spokesperson said.

In the United States, about 3,400 white-collar jobs out of 29,500 are expected to be cut by May 1. The company's U.S. white-collar workforce is also getting a pay cut. The pay reduction will start May 1 and extend through the end of 2009 at least.

Executives' salaries chopped

U.S. executives' pay will be cut by 10 per cent, while other white-collar workers will see their pay reduced by three to seven per cent.

The latest cuts are part of the restructuring plans the automaker submitted to the U.S. government in late 2008.

The company has until Feb. 17 to give the U.S. government an outlook of how it will become viable. That was a condition of the $9.4 billion US that GM received in low-interest loans from the U.S. government. GM is seeking a further $4 billion in aid from Washington.

The U.S. government can demand repayment of its loans to GM March 31 if the company can't get itself into a viable financial position.

With files from the Canadian Press