GM buying out workers

I'm not much of a financial person, but I just saw this story on CNNMoney.com and it made my stop and think for a minute (which is about all I have time for these days).

The gist of the story is that GM, the largest U.S. car maker, is continuing its cost-cutting measures by offering "lucrative buyouts to 74,000 employees - its entire U.S. hourly workforce." (emphasis added).

According to the article:

About 46,000 of the GM employees are eligible to retire today and they can take pension incentives worth between $45,000 to $62,500 to retire. In addition there are inducements for those who are five years from retirement to leave early and receive benefits.

Those who leave and agree to sever all ties with the company - including giving up lucrative pension and health care coverage - will receive a lump sum of $140,000 if they have 10 years of service, or $70,000 for those with less than 10 years.

While a large-scale buy-out like this isn't unusual (Ford has done something similar, according to the article), this makes me uneasy about the state of the economy. Frankly, if there are people who are still saying we're not in a recession, then this could erase those doubts.