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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowGeneral Motors says about 160 jobs will be cut from a plant in Kokomo when the automaker stops producing semiconductors there by mid-2017.
Detroit-based GM said in a written statement that employees were notified last week about the decision, which will affect about 100 hourly and 60 salaried employees. The facility's total workforce will drop to around 600 after the layoffs, the Kokomo Tribune reported.
The Kokomo plant made and tested the semiconductors, which are used in a wide range of automobile systems. The plant will still make integrated circuits, airbag control modules, engine control modules and other parts for GM and other automakers.
Semiconductors were an important part of GM's production strategy from the 1960s until the 1980s but no longer make up a core business.
Kevin Nadrowski, a plant communications manager for GM, said current production volumes of semiconductors had stopped making a profit, and investing in new equipment to boost volume would be cost prohibitive.
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