GM lays off 900 at KCK Fairfax plant, indefinitely: ‘Nobody’s happy about this’
Approximately 900 workers at the local General Motors Fairfax Assembly plant in Kansas City, Kansas, will be laid off indefinitely following a round of temporary layoffs, a company spokesperson confirmed Wednesday.
Layoffs come during a lull in production as the facility shifts toward producing vehicles that are battery-operated or powered using internal combustion engines, such as the Chevrolet Bolt EV and the 2027 Chevrolet Equinox. The plant, a major local employer, ended its production of the Cadillac TX4 and Chevrolet Malibu in preparation for this changeover, bringing operations to a halt in order to retool.
Retooling of the plant in preparation for the Bolt was estimated to cost $390 million, and GM previously said layoffs would continue until production resumed. The company last month announced that it would delay the addition of a second shift to produce the vehicles.
Affected employees account for a notable chunk of the roughly 2,275 people that work for the plant based in KCK’s Fairfax neighborhood. Employees laid off may qualify for supplemental unemployment benefits, regardless of union affiliation.
Unemployment pay is not equivalent to employees’ regular paycheck amounts, according to UAW Local 31, a union that represents production workers at the plant.
Dontay Wilson, president of UAW Local 31, told The Star that placing workers on indefinite layoff status will have a “devastating domino effect” on the metropolitan area, affecting loved ones of those 900 employees and all the businesses they do business with. He noted employees at the plant living paycheck to paycheck will continue to be affected by what they once saw as a temporary issue.
“It’s tough,” Wilson said. “It’s not the same pay that you’re receiving when you’re working 40 hours, plus some overtime.”
Staff were not immediately made aware of why layoffs shifted from temporary to indefinite, he said. “Nobody’s happy about this from the worker’s standpoint. We would’ve much rather had the security.”
GM communicated to plant employees that layoffs were now indefinite via internal communication channels on Wednesday, a spokesperson told The Star. The company declined to say how many people from what departments were affected, and it did not say when it expects employees to begin returning to work or who would have priority.
“We will continue to evaluate and adjust operations based on customer demand,” wrote Kevin Kelly, a spokesperson for GM, in an email.
Wilson said whoever returns to work when production resumes would likely be based on staff seniority.
The slowing down of production ahead of the EV shift began last November and doesn’t just affect GM employees. Employees at at least five companies across the metropolitan area do business with GM and were notified to slow, suspend or shut down operations.
Demand in the EV industry may change in light of the Trump Administration’s One Big, Beautiful Bill. The government brought an end to its federal tax credits for owners of new and used EVs for vehicles acquired after Sept. 30.
This story was originally published October 2, 2025 at 3:44 PM.
