GM's white-collar workers face deadline to consider buyout offer from automaker

General Motors Co. white-collar workers who want to take a buyout have a noon deadline Friday. But they could end up waiting up until March 31 to know whether GM will let them stay or go.

For some, the last day of work could be as early as April 1. But some who accept the voluntary buyout will be required to stay beyond April 1 to assist in the transition of their work duties at GM. All would leave by June 30.

GM salaried employees have been able to change their mind during the window of the offer, which began March 9 until March 24, but at noon March 24, decisions will become final, according to Maria Raynal, a GM spokesperson.

The final decision on who stays or goes rests with the automaker's executives.

“If there is an important business reason to retain a person, they can deny the employee’s expression of interest. If employees are turned down for separation it means that leadership sees them as important to the organization going forward,” according to an FAQ obtained by the Free Press that GM supplied to employees.

Financial planners across Michigan and other parts of the country spent the past two weeks talking with existing clients and reaching out to new ones as GM salaried employees weighed one of the biggest financial moves of their careers: Stay or go?

Could my job get cut later?

"The biggest concern we've heard revolves around the 'what if' factor," said Jack Riashi Jr., a financial adviser with Bloom Advisors in Farmington Hills.

What if they don’t take the money offered in a buyout but later see GM cut their job? What if GM has trouble down the line reaching a $2 billion cost-cutting target? GM said the program is being offered as a "way to accelerate attrition and achieve $2 billion in cost savings by the end of 2024."

What if someone in her 30s or 40s takes the buyout but cannot find a new job after the buyout money is gone?

More:GM puts generous buyout on the table: What salaried workers should consider

More:Chevrolet will end Camaro production in 2024 as it shifts to electric lineup

The employees, Riashi said, who seem to be the least likely to take the buyout are the ones who are confident in their role at the company.

How will this impact me but also my co-workers?

GM employees aren't reflecting publicly on how they're handling the pressure to make a decision or what they feel about the terms on the table. One salaried employee told me she wasn't able to make a statement given GM's strict rules on the process. Employees were instructed by GM in an FAQ to not comment to the media about the buyout.

GM made the offer to a majority of its 58,000 U.S. white-collar employees.

More:GM looks to hire tech talent from massive job cuts in Silicon Valley

More:GM job cuts leave some employees distraught, analysts unimpressed

David Kudla, CEO of Mainstay Capital Management in Troy, said phones have been ringing consistently and the firm's staff has been working 10-hour to 12-hour days to answer questions, as GM employees have had just two weeks to make a big decision.

"Many who are within a year of their planned retirement are taking the voluntary separation program," said Kudla, who says his firm has answered questions for hundreds of GM employees.

"Those who were within a couple years of retirement are considering the offer, and many are taking it."

Part of the conversation, he said, often involves wondering what leaving the company soon would mean for co-workers or how leaving might impact a specific vehicle program where the GM salaried employee is directly involved.

"What I have found that is very admirable is the loyalty to GM, their vehicle program and fellow employees," Kudla said.

GM initially rolled out the generous buyout offers — putting up to 12 months of severance on the table for those with 12 years or more of service — on March 9 to salaried employees in the United States with five years or more of service as of June 30. Severance is one month of pay for every year of service up to 12 months of pay, paid as a lump sum.

A buyout offer is being made to all GM global executives with at least two years of service, as well.