Chrysler plans to freeze pensions for 8,000 salaried employees at the end of the year, the automaker announced Friday, joining a growing group of companies seeking to limit the amount of money they have to set aside now for future retirees.

The move means that salaried workers in the company’s pension plan, which pays retirees a fixed benefit for life, will stop accruing new benefits at the end of 2013. They remain entitled to the pension benefits they have earned so far, but instead of adding to the guaranteed payments they will receive at retirement, the workers will be offered 401(k) accounts, which shift the risk of saving for retirement from employers to employees.