Chrysler to cut about 1,500 additional nonunion jobs

DETROIT (Reuters) - Chrysler LLC plans to cut about 1,500 additional white-collar jobs than initially planned, a person briefed on the plan said on Tuesday.

Chrysler's current restructuring plan, announced in February at the time it was put up for sale by Daimler, included cuts of 13,000 jobs, including 2,000 salaried jobs, as part of a bid to return to profitability by 2009.

Chrysler now plans to cut the salaried work force by an additional 5 percent and the contract work force by 37 percent, the person said.

Chrysler declined to comment on the job cuts.

A 5 percent additional reduction of salaried workers represent about 500 white-collar jobs, while a 37 percent cut in contract jobs could mean the loss of more than 1,000 such positions.

(Reporting by Poornima Gupta)