Report: GM offering first employee buyouts since bankruptcy

General Motors would like to cut 2,000 skilled trade workers by March 2011, and the company is reportedly willing to part with $60,000 per employee to reach its goal. Bloomberg reports that The General is offering the hefty incentive to entice its highly paid skilled trades workers at 14 plants across America. Eight of those plants are scheduled for closure and two more facilities could shut down if demand drops off, no doubt making the money look even more attractive.

The buyout offers are the first GM has offered on a large scale since the company exited bankruptcy in 2009. Unlike past offers, though, GM is only targeting its skilled trades, while the lower-paid rank and file don't appear to have been offered similar deals.

[Source: Bloomberg]