GM installs robots at flagship EV factory after laying off 1,300 workers

General Motors installed approximately 50 FANUC robot arms at its Factory Zero electric vehicle plant in Detroit, Michigan, this week. These robots are intended to assist with attaching vehicle components on the assembly line. The automation deployment follows the layoff of 1,300 workers in March, with over 1,000 union members still on indefinite layoff, according to James Cotton, president of UAW Local 22. Union leaders from the United Auto Workers (UAW) expressed anger over the decision, suggesting that laid-off workers could have been recalled to perform the tasks now handled by the robots. The UAW views the increasing automation as a potential threat to autoworker employment.