The writer is a Los Angeles-based freelancer and former Detroit News business reporter and writes a blog, Starkman Approved.
By Eric Starkman
GM CEO Mary Barra
It’s time Detroit accepted an uncomfortable reality: Mary Barra just isn’t that into you.
GM has confirmed it is firing as many as 600 information technology workers globally but refuses to say how many work at the company’s Global Technical Center in Warren. GM also refuses to disclose how many employees are permanently based in four floors of rented office space at the Hudson's Detroit building in downtown Detroit it insists serves as the company’s global headquarters.
The latest round of cuts comes after GM eliminated roughly 200 computer-aided design engineering jobs at its Warren complex, supposedly as part of the company’s ongoing efforts to improve profitability. That’s become GM’s default explanation for shrinking its Michigan footprint.
A GM spokesman recently had the audacity to say GM’s commitment to Detroit is “as strong as ever.” GM’s corporate center of gravity is steadily shifting toward Silicon Valley, including software, marketing, autonomy, and finance. Barra desperately wants Wall Street to perceive GM as a technology company, and nothing says “technology” like a Mountain View mailing address.
Sterling Anderson, the robotics and autonomy executive GM lured from his money losing startup with a compensation package reportedly worth roughly $40 million, likely is driving GM’s latest Silicon Valley style overhaul of its legacy IT operations. Based on published reports and online employee comments, Anderson appears focused on restructuring GM’s legacy systems and integrating them into software operations that remain deeply troubled.
Barra recently boasted that 90% of the code for GM’s future autonomous systems is now written by artificial intelligence. Unfortunately for GM customers, the company still remains unable to reliably manage the software already inside its vehicles. GM recently instructed dealers to stop selling certain highly profitable 2026 trucks and SUVs because a software update intended to fix phantom braking problems reportedly created issues with the Super Cruise system.
Living Far From Detroit
Meanwhile, some of GM’s most important executives reside far from Detroit. Lin-Hua Wu, GM’s head of marketing and communications, is based in the Bay Area, as is David Mogensen, Cadillac’s newly hired marketing chief. Claudia Gast, GM’s newly hired deputy CFO, is also based there.
My prediction is that Barra’s Detroit legacy will be the abandoned Renaissance Center, the iconic complex where GM once housed more than 4,000 employees before emptying it out while insisting Detroit remained central to the company’s identity.
The second will be Factory Zero, GM’s sprawling 4.5 million square foot electric assembly plant for expensive EV pickups and SUVs consumers have shown limited interest in buying. President Biden hailed the plant as a symbol of America's EV transformation.
The plant’s name was a reference to zero emissions. By the end of the year, it aptly may describe production volume.
