Media reports that General Motors will add 10,000 more people as part of its efforts to insource the bulk of its IT operations turns out to be wrong. The company told Dice News that the widely reported figure stemmed more from a media rush than company announcements. To be sure, the in-house tech staff will grow substantially as the company brings in-house some 90 percent of its technology work. The IT staff will grow from about 1,500 today to 10,000 over the next several years. That's 1,500 short of the reported hiring figure.

What Happened

On Sept. 7, the company announced plans to hire 500 IT workers for an innovation center in Austin, Texas, as it scrambles to bring technological advancements to market more quickly. During that call, a reporter asked CIO Randy Mott to clarify whether the company would add close to 10,000 new staff. Mott casually agreed that was the plan over three to five years. From there, the idea of 10,000 new hires took on a life of its own in media reports, GM's PR folks say. Mott also said there would be four innovation centers, each housing 500 tech workers, with three of the locations yet to be disclosed. The company's PR team now says the number of IT staff needed at the three centers besides Austin's has not been decided.