GM confirms 10,000 salaried jobs cut

General Motors announced today that it is cutting 10,000 workers, or 14 percent of its salaried jobs worldwide. About a third of those job losses will be in the United States.  Blaming the need to restructure the company amid the continued drop in worldwide vehicle sales, the troubled automaker also said it will cut the pay of its remaining US salaried staff.  GM , which is preparing to present a long-term viability plan to the Treasury Department next week, said the cutbacks are part of the restructuring plan it submitted to Congress last December to secure bailout funding from the federal government.  The Detroit-based auto giant received $9.4 billion in federal loans to keep it out of bankruptcy and expects to get another $4 billion after its February 17 submission to the Treasury Department.  GM said it would reduce its global salaried headcount to about 63,000 from its current level of 73,000, and that about 3,400 of its 29,500 salaried US jobs are expected to be eliminated. The cuts will vary by global regions depending on staffing levels and market conditions.  The job reduction doesnÔÇÖt include voluntary buyout offers, however. The automaker made such offers to salaried and hourly workers last year and recently made another to hourly staff that begins this week.  The mostly white-collar workers affected by today's announcement will receive severance payments, benefit contributions and outplacement assistance.  Most of the reductions are expected to take place by May 1 of this year. Workforce members who remain beyond that date will see their salaries reduced for at least the rest of the year, with executives having their base pay reduced by 10 percent and other salaried employees suffering pay cuts between 3 percent and 7 percent.