GM to cut about a fourth of research workforce in R&D reorganization > Fuel Cell Dispatch

GM to cut about a fourth of research workforce in R&D reorganization

General Motors Co. plans to cut about a quarter of the workers at its research and development facility at the Warren Technical Center, part of a broader reorganization of its R&D operation.

GM plans to lay off about 100 of the roughly 400 R&D workers at the Warren complex, said a person with knowledge of the plans. An additional 90 R&D people at a GM research facility in India will be let go, the source said.

Most of GM’s global R&D employees are based in Warren.

GM’s research division accounts for only a small fraction of its operation at the sprawling Warren center, which employs about 16,000 workers in design, engineering and other areas.

In a statement, GM confirmed the restructuring but would not confirm the number of layoffs. The R&D realignment is being led by longtime GM engineer Jon Lauckner, who took over the operation last month.

Lauckner replaced Tom Stephens, who retired as GM’s chief technology officer. GM decided not to replace Alan Taub, former vice president of R&D, who worked under Stephens and retired last month. Lauckner has assumed Taub’s duties.

“These moves will enable the organization to better focus on commercializing customer-focused innovation in a more efficient and cost-effective manner,” GM said in the statement.

Some of the changes are structural but don’t involve job cuts, a GM spokesman said. For example, about 60 R&D employees who are developing fuel cell technologies at a facility in Honeoye Falls, N.Y., now will report to GM’s powertrain division rather than its R&D division.

According to its 2011 annual report, GM spent $8.1 billion on R&D last year. But that figure also includes the company’s global engineering expenses and essentially includes GM’s entire product development budget, the spokesman said.

GM’s core R&D operation focuses on advanced technologies, such as fuel cell development, and represents only a small portion of that $8.1 billion figure, he said.

Source: Mike Colias, Crain's Detroit