Disclosure: I work for GM. Anything here is solely my own opinion or understanding. Layoff means something different to automakers. It's a layoff so that they

Disclosure: I work for GM. Anything here is solely my own opinion or understanding. Layoff means something different to automakers. It's a layoff so that they can draw unemployment. Traditionally there was a two week layoff in July for model changeover. It was basically a two week vacation for a lot of workers, while they were technically unemployed. So yes, it's more or less a furlough.