GM (NYSE: GM) is about to join Ford (NYSE: F) in a series of job cuts. Rising gas prices and hard economic times are pushing domestic car sales down. According to The Wall Street Journal, the company's CEO, Rick Wagoner, "will announce his new restructuring measures at the annual shareholder meeting on June 3."

The plans raise an important question at both Ford and GM. Have they reached the point where further cuts will ruin their capacity to manage growth in the US market when the downturn is over? If the companies end up with only a skeleton crew of executives and white collar workers that could be an issue.

More troubling is the issue of why the cuts were not made much earlier. If an employee is expendable now, why wasn't he expendable last year? Did GM carry too many people for the last several quarters?

Optimism got the better of GM, and its did not cut as far as it might have. Now, it gets to pay the price for thinking things might get better.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com and author of the Ten Stocks Under $10 letter.