Hot on the heels of Toyota Australia’s and Holden’s announced shut down date in October this year, at least two automotive component makers are also set to announce their closure, thereby adding to the manufacturing job losses. From The ABC:
The ABC understands management at Toyota Boshoku, a car seat manufacturer in Derrimut in Melbourne’s west, will announce on Friday all 350 workers will lose their jobs in October.
Croydon-based Denso in the city’s east, which makes car air-conditioning units and ignition systems, has previously signalled it will sack 250 workers once Toyota pulls out.
“It’s been going on for three to four years now,” a worker at Toyota Boshuko said.
“Everybody’s numb.”
The worker, who did not want to be named, said many of the employees spoke English as a second language and would struggle to find work elsewhere.
“People didn’t make an effort to speak English because their whole teams operated in their own languages,” she said…
The Australian Manufacturing and Workers Union (AMWU) said thousands of jobs from the component’s industry would be cut over the coming weeks.
“Some companies are trying to diversify, but the majority will be closing,” AMWU’s Dave Smith said.
“The flow on effect will be huge.”
As I noted this morning, the official Department of Employment projection is for the closure of the car industry to cost some 27,500 manufacturing jobs over the five years to November 2020:
However, other estimates claim the job losses will be much higher once spillovers to downstream and upstream industries are taken into account.
Cappuccino anyone?
