General Motors (GM)
Brazil has given 900 of its employees 30 days of paid leave to match
production with the current weak demand.
All 900 employees work for the
production side of the company. One third of the employees are at Sao Caetano do Sul’s assembly line, while the rest work at Sao Jose Dos Campos, a facility located 60 miles north of Sao Paulo.
Additionally, GM’s temporary workers at Caetano do Sul, whose contracts started expiring in February and will continue to expire in March and April, will not get their contracts renewed due to the sales slowdown.
The
automotive industry in
Brazil has been significantly affected by the global recession. According to the National Federation of
Automotive Vehicles, sales in January 2009 dropped 6.74 percent; in December 2008, 16.39 percent; and in November 2008, 23.44 percent, all compared to the same months the previous year.