(Bloomberg) -- In the midst of a labor shortage, General Motors Co. is hiring in droves.

The automaker said Wednesday that it’s hiring for 8,000 new tech jobs after adding 10,000 similarly skilled workers last year. GM needs to add people as the company pushes Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra’s $35 billion plan to build 30 electric vehicles by 2025 and start its Cruise robotaxi business.

GM is offering compensation packages that include bonuses and stock to compete with Silicon Valley companies. Another lure: Barra’s “work appropriately” strategy that lets people work from remote locations, pandemic style, rather than trundling into an office every day. 

“There was a period of time where we were getting picked off from big tech,” said Iwao Fusillo, GM’s chief data and analytics officer. “Now it’s the other way around. We’re competitive. We have an extra edge around ‘work appropriately.”’

It’s a reversal from 2019, when Barra retrenched the business by closing plants and laying off 8,000 white-collar workers and thousands of factory employees. GM ended 2020 with 68,000 salaried workers and has had little turnover, so recent hiring and the new plan may put its white-collar staffing at more than 80,000.

GM shares rose 2.5% at 2:15 p.m. in New York. 

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