Stellantis cutting white-collar engineering, tech employees

Stellantis NV said Friday that it's making staffing cuts to its engineering and software divisions.

The automaker said the layoffs — totaling 400 white-collar employees — will affect about 2% of workers in the engineering/tech and software groups in the United States.

The maker of Jeep, Ram, Chrysler and Dodge vehicles has cut jobs several times over the past year in both its salaried and hourly workforces, even as it posted record net profits worldwide of $20 billion last year. But like other automakers it's in the midst of a costly transition to electric vehicles, with its first fully electric offerings launching in the United States this spring.

"As the auto industry continues to face unprecedented uncertainties and heightened competitive pressures around the world, Stellantis continues to make the appropriate structural decisions across the enterprise to improve efficiency and optimize our cost structure," a statement sent Friday by Stellantis spokesperson Jodi Tinson said.

The statement added those laid off would get a "comprehensive separation package and transition assistance." A number of the affected employees were notified of the cuts Friday morning. The company's statement said the layoffs would take effect on March 31.

In the U.S., Stellantis employs about 11,800 salaried workers total, Tinson said.

Stellantis said the Friday cuts were about protecting a "competitive advantage" amid the electric vehicle transition, and as the company aims to to cut its carbon footprint by half by 2030, and fully by 2038, under its Dare Forward 2030 plan.

They are among a series of recent staffing changes at the company. In recent months, Stellantis laid off hundreds of hourly supplemental manufacturing employees while also rolling many of the so-called temps over to full-time status. And it has offered big rounds of buyouts to both hourly and salaried workers over the past year, including to about 6,400 white-collar workers last fall.

Though it posted record net profits last year, sales in the United States did slip 1%.

Meanwhile, this is the year it plans to make a big and pricey push into the EV market — a segment that's witnessed shakier sales numbers in the last few months. It recently delivered its Ram ProMaster commercial van EV to Amazon.com Inc. It's rolling out the Fiat 500e stateside soon.

And later in the year it's planning to launch the Wagoneer S SUV, Jeep Recon SUV, Dodge Charger, and Ram 1500 REV. It is also working to finish a big new battery plant in Windsor, Ontario, alongside LG Energy solution that's scheduled to come online later in the year.

lramseth@detroitnews.com

@lramseth