GM to cut 14% of global salaried workforce this year

General Motors, facing a Feb. 17 deadline to show the government it's a viable company, said on Tuesday it will cut 14 percent of its salaried jobs globally by the end of the year and slash the salaries of many who remain.

Salaried employment will drop to 63,000, from 73,000, the company said in a statement. In the United States, about 3,400 of GM's 29,500 salaried employees will lose their jobs, and most of those will be eliminated by May 1.

The cut in base pay for executives will be 10 percent. "Many other" salaried workers will have their pay reduced by 3 percent to 7 percent, GM said.

"These difficult actions are necessitated by a severe drop in vehicle sales worldwide and by the need to restructure GM for long-term viability," GM said in the statement.

Next week, GM must submit a restructuring plan to the Treasury Department to preserve its promised $13.4 billion in federal loans.

In its initial restructuring plan submitted Dec. 2 to Congress, GM had said it expected to cut its U.S. employment levels from about 96,000 to between 65,000 and 67,000, including both salaried and hourly workers. GM has not disclosed its total targeted global job cuts.

In the United States, about 3,400 of GM's 29,500 salaried employees will be affected. The rest of the job cuts will impact Europe and GM's other operations around the world.

John Revill contributed to this report

By Dave Versical and Chrissie Thompson- Automotive News