When a major corporation such as General Motors encounters financial restraints, and layoffs happen, the company in an attempt to put a positive spin on it, often accentuates the positive. This is exactly what General Motors of Canada’s Windsor Transmission plant’s, Buzz Hargrove did when he tried to soften the blow of the employees laid off there. That was just the tip of the iceberg – now GM has confirmed it is cutting 1,200 jobs at Oshawa’s truck plant, by next January.
In March (2007) General Motors (GM) informed (Canadian Auto Workers) CAW it expected to lay off 375 employees in Windsor. The plant is suffering from changing sales patterns and changing supply contracts. In May the plant managed to line up some temporary work, due to increased orders for cars powered with their transmissions.
Hargrove, the President of the Canadian Auto Workers Union (CAW), stated early retirements would dramatically reduce the number of employees affected.
Companies often use early retirements as an incentive to reduce layoffs and to protect their public image. However, imposed early retirements have costly emotional ramifications for many people who face unexpected early retirement. In fact, statistics show that there is an increase in early mortality among people who retire, involuntarily, before they are really ready. The questions I ask, as a coach, are:
- “Are you ready for retirement?”
- “What is going to replace work?”
- “Do you realize that work provides more than just a paycheque?
- “Have you given thought to what you are going to do all day, every day for the next 30 or 40 years?”
In the minds of laid off employees, it is little comfort that GM (General Motors of Canada) blames the slump in the US housing market, or that credit markets have already made it difficult for the struggling auto industry. Needless to say, the business decision made by General Motors to reduce the three shifts it is now operating in Oshawa to bring production in line with demand, is a harsh reality for employees who lose their source of financial security as a result.
Although it is unlikely that employees feel comforted to know it is a permanent layoff, it removes the uncertainty of constantly getting laid off and painfully waiting in hopes of getting called back. Employees, who prided themselves in producing Chevrolet Silverado and GM Sierra pickup trucks, or other auto products in Oshawa or other Ontario plants affected, are now in a position where they have to decide what is next.
This is where a Career or Retirement Coach can be of assistance. Working to determine what is next with a coach can help laid-off employees to process their emotions relating to the job loss and help them decide on a course of action. Taking action to prevent depression or simply lost earning power – needed to ensure a comfortable retirement is often a difficult process. Engaging in the coaching process can help avoid the wheel spinning or escalating challenges that occur as a result of involuntary lay-off.
Laid off auto workers find themselves in a dilemma. Due to the sheer numbers of employees being dumped on the Oshawa, Windsor and Detroit economies, there simply aren’t enough replacement jobs – let alone good paying union jobs. It is not only GM (General Motors) who have laid-off massive numbers of auto workers.
Chrysler wiped out 2000 unionized jobs in Ontario earlier this year. Permanent shutdowns of dozens of auto part plants across Ontario, who supplied Detroit’s Big Three form an economic crunch for communities such as Oshawa and Windsor, Ontario.
These displaced workers have serious questions to answer. Certainly, this number of employees is not easily absorbed into the local economies. Career Coaching or Retirement Coaching gives the displaced worker an opportunity to explore their options and remain focused on solutions. Some may think it is simpler than it is. They may look on and assume “early retirement” is a Nirvana.
However, an unplanned retirement can be a devastating blow and even at best people who are young and retire need to have a plan – otherwise life becomes meaningless very quickly.
Employees get more than financial reward from their careers. Work gives us a sense of identity, time management, social connection, psychological well-being and unless these factors are replaced, the down-sized employee can encounter problems adjusting to their new-found freedom.
Coping with Unexpected Change continued..
