GM begins process of insourcing IT work to U.S.

General Motors plans to begin insourcing more of its IT work to the U.S., a company policy change that bring a wealth of knowledge-economy workers to Detroit in the near term.

"It could mean thousands of jobs," says Juli Rough, director of media strategy for General Motors. "There would be some impact on Detroit but it's too early to know how that specifically impacts Detroit."

Today about 75-80 percent of the automaker's IT work is outsourced overseas. The rest of that work is done by about 1,500 GM employees stateside. GM officials would like to transition its IT work so 90 percent of its IT workforce is done in the U.S. by GM employees who are not only working on IT but creating new IT innovations and solutions for the company.

The specifics of this transition are still being hashed out, and it's not known whether those jobs will end up in downtown Detroit. A number of firms have created on-shoring IT services into an emerging tech cluster in downtown Detroit. Rough couldn't say whether that trend impacted GM's decision. She did say that the IT transition will be years in the making.

"It's going to be kind of a journey over the next 3-5 years," Rough says.

Source: Juli Rough, director of media strategy for General Motors
Writer: Jon Zemke

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