Carmaker announces 'mandatory remote workday' before layoffs
Multinational automotive manufacturing corporation Stellantis has fired about 400 U.S. workers who were instructed to work from home.
The firing happened on March 22.
In an email to employees around 8 p.m. on March 21, the carmaker told workers not to come to the office the following day.
“On Friday, March 22nd, we will be holding important operational meetings that require specific attention and participation,” read part of the email to employees, a copy of which was posted on social media platform X by user Car Dealership Guy.
“To ensure everyone can effectively participate, we have decided to implement a mandatory remote workday for all U.S. Salaried Non-Bargaining Unit (NBU) employees in Engineering & Technology organization.”
The employees were “expected to work from home unless otherwise instructed by your manager,” read part of Stellantis’s email to employees.
During that meeting, the company fired the workers on the call.
“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,” said the employer during the meeting, according to a Fortune report posted on Yahoo News.
“It was a mass firing of everybody that was on the call," one Stellantis employee – a mechanical engineer – told Fox.
In January, a worker fired by two human resources personnel over Zoom recorded and posted the incident online, and it caused discomfort to many viewers, including the company’s CEO.
Is Stellantis laying off?
The worker claimed that there had been rumours of layoffs in their office.
In a statement, Stellantis said that "these actions will better align resources while preserving the critical skills needed to protect our competitive advantage as we remain laser focused on implementing our EV product offensive and our Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan,” said the Fox report.
However, fired Stellantis workers were not sure of the reason behind the firing.
There are "tons" of positions the company has outsourced to India, Mexico, and Brazil, said the mechanical engineer in the Fox report.
"So they continue to push low-cost countries as more efficient for the company and more profitable," he said.
The company said that it would offer affected workers a comprehensive separation package and transition assistance, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
In December 2021, Better.com CEO Vishal Garg fired over 900 workers over Zoom, and later apologized for his action.
By January 2022, he was reinstalled as CEO after taking a break from his duties following the controversy.
