Multinational automaker Stellantis is making a big hiring push for low-wage engineers in Brazil, India, Mexico, and Morocco after laying off 400 Americans in its engineering, software, and technology departments in March.
On March 22, Stellantis executives announced that 400 salaried engineering and software employees in Auburn Hills, Michigan, would be laid off to cut costs. An industry insider told Automotive News that Stellantis is making gradual layoffs in the United States to avoid WARN Act disclosures.
Following layoffs of its American employees, Stellantis executives are looking to hire engineers for a fraction of the cost by hiring in Brazil, India, Mexico, and Morocco. Whereas Stellantis must pay American engineers $150,000 to $200,000 salaries, the automaker can pay engineers in low-wage countries just $53,000 a year.
At the same time, Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares now reigns as the top-paid executive of a car manufacturer, securing a $39 million compensation package in April.
An insider told Automotive News that Stellantis is hoping to have about two-thirds of its engineers in these low-wage countries to cut costs even as Tavares’s pay grows. In Brazil, alone, Stellantis wants to hire about 500 engineers while other engineering jobs are set to go to Mexico.
The outsourcing scheme comes as insiders note that it poses major complications for the automaker in terms of issues with its production.
For example, as Automotive News reports, Stellantis had to fly French and Italian engineers into India to fix problems with its Smart Car platform that had been developed by Tata Consulting Services (TCS), a well-known outsourcing company.
Similarly, there have been production launch issues at Stellantis’s Sterling Heights, Michigan, truck plant because of a lack of nearby engineers. Last month, executives announced they were laying off nearly 200 workers at the plant.
“Stellantis is pathetic. Honestly, the leadership is pathetic,” United Auto Workers (UAW) President Shawn Fain said of the layoffs. “You got a CEO over there across the pond that wants to talk about how they need to cut costs and all this stuff, but it didn’t stop him from giving himself a 56 percent pay increase.”
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at
