GM announces closure of Arizona facility; more than 900 employees to lose jobs

CHANDLER, Ariz. (3TV/CBS 5/Gray News) - General Motors said about 940 employees at the Arizona IT Innovation Center in Chandler will be impacted when the facility closes on Oct. 31.

GM said of the job losses, “As part of GM’s continued transformation, and to better align our Innovation Center footprint and IT resources in the U.S., we have made the decision to cease our IT operation at our Chandler, AZ, Innovation Center later this year.”

Employees working in the software defined vehicle teams will stay in Arizona, and affected employees can apply for open positions, the company said.

Erik Gronseth said he received a notification Tuesday evening about a 9 a.m. staff meeting on Wednesday.

“There wasn’t too much of any forewarning of what to expect. Some of us jokingly thought maybe this was going to be along the lines of ‘Meet some new co-workers,’ but it’s unfortunate that it turned out the way it did,” said Gronseth.

During the 30-minute meeting, he learned hundreds of coworkers will be let go, but he is not one of them. “That was a bit of relief, bittersweet relief, as we knew a lot of people,” said Gronseth.

Severance packages and outplacement services will be offered to employees based on how long they’ve been with the company, KPHO reported.

In February 2022, the City of Chandler touted the hundreds of job opportunities offered by GM.

Micah Miranda, economic development director for the city, said the closure “came as a complete surprise. We’ve recently been working with their local team about higher education partnerships, mentoring, and a promotional video highlighting Chandler’s Price Corridor. With this unfortunate news, we plan to work closely with our workforce development partners to assist with employment opportunities for those impacted.”