The automaker laid off more than 200 salaried staff, mostly at its Tech Center in Warren, Michigan, north of Detroit.

The message was delivered around 7 a.m., when the company called some of the affected employees to a Slack channel to say that the firings were due to “business conditions” and not their performance, according to people familiar with the meeting who asked not to be identified discussing internal matters.

GM has been streamlining the company to boost profits at a time when automakers are trying to cope with US President Donald Trump’s changing policies.

Tariffs have added costs that automakers mostly have not offset with higher prices, and they are reining in investments for electric vehicles that are selling slowly as the government eliminates incentives.