A few months ago, 3,300 workers staffed three shifts at GM’s Factory Zero. Now, only about 1,000 workers have any chance of keeping their jobs.

In early September, General Motors throttled the plant back to one shift. At the end of October, the automaker closed the factory completely. GM later promised to bring back two shifts from late November through Jan. 6. The move allowed workers to collect holiday pay.

The company stayed vague about plans after Jan. 6. In late November, GM announced it permanently laid off the third shift. Now the factory has returned to a single shift. GM also confirmed it permanently laid off the second shift.

How Factory Zero went from flagship EV plant to ghost ship

General Motors retooled its iconic plant on the Detroit-Hamtramck border in 2020. The automaker positioned the facility as the center of its EV production strategy. It also gave the plant the ambitious name “Factory Zero.”

GM now insists it has little control over the layoffs. Company officials say Americans simply aren’t buying EVs. Not everyone agrees.

Nevena Pilipović-Wengler and Andrew Bergman work at Factory Zero and they shared their experience on the Daily Struggle website. “All of the layoffs come just after a stretch of grueling mandatory overtime…To maximize their profits, they need to be able to force us into dangerous mandatory overtime, lay us off, and bring us back, all whenever they see fit.”

The same website argues that weak demand is partly GM’s fault. It points to General Motors’ “decision to make luxury EVs, costing around $100,000 and more, as well as impact of tariffs resulted in low demand and unpredictable conditions for workers.”