Stellantis, owner of the Jeep, Dodge and Ram brands and an assembly plant in Belvidere, said Friday it has offered buyouts to some salaried employees.
The company declined to say how many workers have received the offer and how many reductions it wants to see. Employees have until Dec. 5 to respond.
“As part of our transformation to become a sustainable tech mobility company and the market leader in low-emission vehicles, in October we offered certain salaried U.S. employees the option to voluntarily separate from the company with a favorable package of benefits that otherwise would not be available to them,” the company said Friday.
Salaried workers eligible for the offer are those aged 55 and older. They do not belong to the United Auto Workers. The offer is going to those with at least 30 years of service and a pension or at least 10 years of service with or without pension eligibility.
“If there are salaried employees at the Belvidere plant who meet the eligibility criteria, they would have received an offer to voluntarily separate from the company. We’re not providing any more plant-specific detail beyond this,” spokeswoman Jodi Tinson said.
Stellantis produces the Jeep Cherokee in Belvidere, near Rockford. It last reported about 1,200 workers at the plant covering one shift.
The factory has lost about 400 workers since the spring when the company announced layoffs there of unionized and salaried staff.
Sales of the Cherokee are down 61% from a year ago, according to Stellantis’ third-quarter report. The company has not commented on speculation by auto analysts that Belvidere will be retooled to produce electric versions of the Dodge Challenger and Charger sports cars.
