BUSINESS BRIEFING / AUTOMOBILES

General Motors Co., in an effort to retain employees as it tries to return to profitability, has rescinded white-collar pay cuts it made last spring.

The struggling automaker was losing employees because its pay scales were no longer competitive with those of other automakers and manufacturers, a spokesman said. He said he did not know how many had left or how many workers were affected by the cuts.

The earlier pay cuts, ranging from 3% for many lower-level workers to 10% for executives, saved the company about $50 million.