American Axle to shed up to 350 salaried workers

The cuts come in addition to the previously announced elimination of 2,000 U.S. hourly jobs at the supplier, or more than half the company's 3,650 manufacturing workers. American Axle has about 2,000 salaried workers worldwide, spokeswoman Renee Rogers said.

The company said in late May that it might make some salaried reductions in order to shrink its U.S. business to fit falling demand, but it didn't give further details. The company expects to meet its targets through early retirement packages, attrition, not filling open positions and possible layoffs, Rogers said.

Hourly workers have until July 18 to decide whether to take the company's buyout offers, Rogers said. Rogers said salaried workers started getting early retirement offers in mid-June, but there is no deadline for them to decide on the packages.

"The market is very fluid right now," she said. "If market conditions deteriorate we might have to make some adjustments."

American Axle emerged in May from a nearly three-month strike by the United Auto Workers that crippled the operations of General Motors Corp., its largest customer. Under a new contract ratified by workers, the supplier's total hourly labor costs are dropping from $73.48 to between $30 and $45, saving the company $300 million per year.

Despite those cuts, the company has said it needs to make further adjustments to deal with weakening U.S. sales, which are expected to hit their lowest point in more than a decade this year.