GM offers buyouts to 18,000 of 50,000 workers

General Motors followed up on a strong earnings report by offering company buyouts to tens of thousands of salaried workers. 

The exit packages are being offered to about 18,000 of the company’s 50,000 white-collar employees with 12 or more years of experience in North America, who have until Nov. 19 to opt into the program, GM sources told CBS News transportation correspondent Kris Van Cleave. The story was first reported by the Detroit News.

GM confirmed in an email that it was offering a “voluntary severance program” to eligible salaried workers in the U.S. and Canada as part of a company-wide cost cutting initiative. GM has said it is aiming to save $6.5 billion in “cost efficiencies” through 2018. Terms of the buyouts weren’t released.

News of the buyout comes after GM reported strong third quarter earnings on Wednesday showing an operating profit of $2.5 billion and a healthy 10.2 percent profit margin for its North America region.

“The voluntary severance program for eligible salaried employees is one example of our efforts to improve cost efficiency,” GM stated in an email. 

“We’ve been on a journey to transform the company, both in how we operate the business and in how we lead in the future of mobility,” the email explained. “Even with the positive progress we’ve made, we are taking proactive steps to get ahead of the curve by accelerating our efforts to address overall business performance. We are doing this while our company and economy are strong.”