--- description: Cars are flying off the lots title: Why GM Employees Are Getting $9,000 Bonuses image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Why GM Employees Are Getting $9,000 Bonuses by [Sam Frizell](/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 4, 2015 1:53 PM CUT by [Sam Frizell](/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 4, 2015 1:53 PM CUT About 48,000 General Motors employees in the United States can expect up to [$9,000 in profit-sharing checks](http://www.gm.com/company/investors/earning-releases.content%5Fpages%5Fnews%5Femergency%5Fnews%5F2015%5F0204-4th-qtr-earnings.~content~gmcom~home~company~investors.html "undefined") after the automaker on Wednesday reported impressive earnings for 2014. The payments to GM workers are higher than last year’s maximum of $7,500, and the highest ever since GM and the United Autoworkers negotiated to share a portion of the company’s domestic profit, the [Detroit _Free Press_](http://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/general-motors/2015/02/04/gm-profit-sharing-uaw/22844373/ "undefined") reports. The increase in profit sharing-checks is based on an overall improvement in the automaker’s performance. GM earned $1.1 billion in the fourth-quarter of 2014, up 21% from a year earlier, with the company’s profit jumping 91% behind a strong auto market. GM spent $2.8 billion in costs related to the record number of recalls in 2014 after the company was forced to replace faulty airbags on thousands of vehicles. “A strong fourth-quarter helped us deliver very good core operating results in 2014 despite significant challenges we and the industry faced,” CEO Mary Barra said in a statement. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3695170/gm-bonuses/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3695170/gm-bonuses/"},"headline":"Why GM Employees Are Getting $9,000 Bonuses","datePublished":"2015-02-04T13:53:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T04:08:13.829Z","description":"Cars are flying off the lots","url":"https://time.com/3695170/gm-bonuses/","keywords":["Autos"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sam Frizell","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3695170/gm-bonuses/","name":"Why GM Employees Are Getting $9,000 Bonuses"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"General Motors for Life: From College Intern to Corporate CEO","description":"Mary Barra is the first woman to lead a major automaker. With the government now completely divested of GM stock, can Barra grow the company to dominate like it once did 50 years ago?","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/uBFwtt3M/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2013-12-13T00:52:03.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/uBFwtt3M.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3695170/gm-bonuses/","duration":"PT2M15S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3695170/gm-bonuses/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Mary Barra on Her Biggest Influence","description":"Mary Barra speaks about the responsibility of being influential.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/FVSQ7YcQ/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-04-24T10:24:28.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/FVSQ7YcQ.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3695170/gm-bonuses/","duration":"PT59S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3695170/gm-bonuses/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```