America’s most iconic automakers are shrinking their human resources payrolls.
The “Detroit Three” automakers — General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis — have collectively eliminated more than 20,000 US salaried positions in recent years, representing about 19% of their combined white-collar workforce from recent peaks this decade, according to company filings and employment data reported by CNBC.
The decline reflects a steady pullback from earlier hiring surges, especially at General Motors, which expanded its US white-collar workforce significantly before reversing course in recent years.
GM leads the reductions
General Motors accounts for the largest share of the cuts, reducing its US salaried headcount by roughly 11,000 employees between 2022 and last year. That followed a period of rapid expansion, during which GM’s US white-collar workforce rose from about 48,000 employees in 2020 to around 58,000 in 2022, before the downsizing began.
Recent reductions have also included layoffs tied to restructuring in areas such as information technology and the winding down of its Cruise robotaxi operations, according to CNBC. GM also recently cut between 500 and 600 salaried workers globally, with sources telling CNBC that many of the roles were in IT operations and were partly linked to evolving workforce needs tied to AI.
Ford and Stellantis scale back gradually
Ford Motor has also reduced its salaried workforce, cutting roughly 5,300 US white-collar jobs from its 2020 peak to about 30,700 employees last year. Stellantis, the parent company of Chrysler, has followed a similar path but at a smaller scale, reducing its salaried workforce from about 15,000 in 2020 to roughly 11,000 in recent years.
Combined, the Detroit automakers’ white-collar workforce peaked at about 102,000 jobs in 2022 before falling to approximately 88,700 by the end of last year.
AI and industry transformation driving change
Executives and analysts point to a mix of forces behind the cuts, including the rise of software-defined vehicles, electric and autonomous systems, and the growing role of AI in workplace operations.
Ford CEO Jim Farley has been one of the most outspoken voices on the shift. He said at the Aspen Ideas Festival in July that “Artificial intelligence is going to replace literally half of all white-collar workers in the U.S.” He added that “AI will leave a lot of white-collar people behind,” CNBC reported.
Economists and labor researchers also expect the trend to deepen. Gad Levanon of the Burning Glass Institute notes that clerical, finance, IT, and coding roles are among the most exposed to automation, while some losses may be offset by new roles in areas like cybersecurity and autonomous systems.
Hiring hasn’t stopped; it’s changing
Despite the layoffs, automakers are not universally shrinking their workforces. Toyota Motor, for example, reportedly increased its US white-collar workforce by about 31% between 2020 and 2025, reaching roughly 47,500 employees.
Even within the Detroit Three, hiring continues in targeted areas. Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa has said the company still plans to add more than 2,000 white-collar jobs in North America, even as broader restructuring continues.
Collectively, the automakers still list more than 2,000 open US positions, with nearly 400 of them linked to AI roles, according to company job postings cited by CNBC.
Also read: Cloudflare is cutting 20% of its workforce as AI-driven restructuring spreads across major companies.