General Motors (GM), a global automotive company, is calling hundreds of employees at its Herzliya-based tech center in Israel for hearings ahead of major job cuts, following the shutdown of its self-driving car unit, Cruise.

The layoffs are part of a larger company restructuring due to slowing electric vehicle demand and changes to its plans for self-driving technology. The restructuring has led to many overlapping roles, which have caused more job cuts.

The tech center is one of GM’s key global R\&D hubs and employs around 700 people. While the exact number of job cuts is yet to be confirmed, sources say several hundred roles will be affected—making this one of GM’s biggest layoffs in the region in recent years.

Confirming the news, GM issued a statement: “In order to accelerate GM’s vision for autonomy, we are aligning our team structure with our most critical priorities. As a result, we’ve made the difficult decision to reduce roles on the autonomous vehicle technology team in Israel. We are grateful for the team’s contributions to this effort.”

“GM's tech center in Israel continues to focus on areas such as connected camera and viewing, engagement services, charging, fleet, cyber, thermal, DevOps, and R\&D,” it added.

In recent weeks, it has cut jobs at several U.S. locations as well, partly due to slower demand for electric vehicles.

Additionally, these changes come alongside leadership shakeups, including the exit of Chief Technology Officer Gil Golan just a month after his appointment. The timing has raised concerns about the company’s stability and future innovation plans.

Last year, GM also laid off several dozen employees in the region during a major software and services division reorganisation as part of global cuts.

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At the time, a total of 800 employees were confirmed at the development center in Herzliya, and over 75,000 employees globally, so it was less than 2% of its total workforce. That restructuring aimed to bring GM’s global tech teams together to better support its changing electric and self-driving vehicle plans.