That sound you hear is more Paychecks weeping! When will it stop?? The Big 3 automakers just keep cutting jobs, and it’s terrible for both those families and for the state’s economy! We’ve got the deets on the latest happenings, as well as some suggestions for how to actually fix things!
Here are Five Fast Facts on more bad news for the auto industry:
- ✂️ More Cuts - GM is cutting about 1,000 jobs, mostly based in Michigan. The number includes over 500 from the Warren Global Technical Center. It’s the second round of layoffs in the last few months for GM. Someone stop hitting the replay button, would ya’?!
- 😭 Tough Year - It’s been a tough year for the auto industry in Michigan! Sales of high-dollar EVs are slow, overall consumer demand is still about 1 million cars behind pre-pandemic levels, and federal policy changes are in the wind, which causes uncertainty. And less car buying.
- 🇨🇳 China - Unfortunately, China is far more nimble, and much better able to pivot based on what the market wants. They currently provide about half of the world’s supply of cars.
- 🤦 Solving The Wrong Problem - For a couple of decades now, Michigan has been solving the wrong problem by giving specific companies (usually the Big 3 automakers) tax subsidies to the tune of almost $23 billion to help them out in tough times. And also in good times. Pretty much all the time, really. And yet, the Big 3 have lost almost 50% of their workers during that time while other states have gained 12% for their auto industries…without that extra taxpayer cash!
- 🤔 Give It Some Thought - So what would help the Michigan automakers? Improvements in the general business climate (like lower taxes and regularly reviewing jobs requirements for licenses), incentivizing reliable and cheap electricity instead of carbon emissions, allowing businesses to expense more business costs, and reinstating Right to Work.
🔥Bottom line: It’s tough stuff, no doubt. But at some point don’t we have to look reality in the face and understand that what we’ve been doing is not working? The sooner our state’s leaders do that, the sooner we can get back to more great Paychecks in a thriving auto industry!
What do you think should be done to help the auto industry?
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