First, real estate foreclosures were up 30%. Then the stock market fell over 360 points. And the news on Thursday didn’t improve much as Chrysler made drastic cuts to its workforce — announcing plans to cut 12,000 workers to help combat sluggish sales expected through 2008.
How the news shakes out at Chrysler, by the numbers:
- 59,000. The number of employees expected to be working for Chrysler at the end of 2009.
- 12,000. The number of North American workers out of a job at Chrysler, the third-largest U.S.-based automaker. Affecting approximately 15% of its workforce, close to 10,000 hourly jobs and 2,100 salaried jobs will be eliminated.
- 1,100. The number of temporary workers the company announced it was letting go earlier this week. None of the contract workers will receive a severance package, though most full-time workers will be offered buyout or early retirement packages (though the company has not released the details of those packages yet).
- 80.1%. The percentage Chrysler sold to private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP in August 2007, making the switch from DaimlerChrysler AG to separate private companies known as Chrysler and Daimler AG.
- 8.9%. The percentage of Chrysler’s sales loss in October, compared to the same time last year. This was the fifth straight monthly decline and biggest of 2007.
- 5.1. The salary, reportedly $5.1 million, for former Chrysler chief executive officer Tom LaSorda.
- 5. The number of North American assembly plants that will see shifts eliminated. It was announced Thursday that Chrysler will cut shifts at vehicle assembly plants in Belvidere, Illinois; Toledo, Ohio; Brampton, Ontario; Jefferson North in Detroit, and Sterling Heights, Michigan. Also, Chrysler will cut jobs at the company’s Detroit-area Mack Avenue engine plant.
- 4. The number of vehicle models that are being phased out of its lineup. The Auburn Hills, Michigan-based company is ending production for the PT Cruiser convertible, Crossfire sedan, Dodge Magnum wagon, and Pacifica SUV.
- 3.5%. The percentage of Chrysler’s sales loss during the first nine months of this year.
- 2. The second time this year Chrysler has cut more than 10,000 jobs. The cuts announced Thursday are in addition to the slashing from February 2007, when 13,000 layoffs (11,000 production jobs and 2,000 salaried jobs) were announced.
- 1. New CEO Bob Nardelli earns just $1 a year in salary, with his bonus tied to the company’s performance. (Though Nardelli did leave Home Depot, where he worked as CEO until January 2007, with a controversial $210 million severance package.)