With all of the job cuts among the Big Three, the American auto industry will soon be nearly half the size it was a mere six years ago.

GM announced the latest cut on Feb. 10. GM said it will cut 10,000 white-collar jobs worldwide in 2009, including about 3,400 in the United States. In November, GM said in its application for a federal bailout that it had already cut U.S. employment from 177,000 in 2002 to 93,000. Cutting another 3,400 jobs means GM will have cut 49 percent of its work force since 2002.

 
And General Motors is not alone:

Chrysler said in late 2008 it had 56,600 employees, after reductions of about 32,000 since 2007. At the end of 2004, the company had 84,375 employees, so it has already shrunk about 33 percent. Look for even more cuts to come…

Meanwhile Ford has shrunk its North American work force by about 44 percent in about three years, to about 65,000.

And this does not include cuts that may be promised as part of the restructuring plans that GM and Chrysler must submit to Congress on Tuesday.