Mackinac Policy Conference 2013 (Automotive Industry & Young Talent)

Automotive industry needs to woo young talent

TOM WALSH LOOKS AT THE CHALLENGES THAT ARE AHEAD FOR AUTOMAKERS

   MACKINAC ISLAND — Michigan’s three automakers and most of its supplier base survived the great shakeout of 2008-09, but that’s no guarantee of a prosperous future.

   That was the clear message at the Mackinac Policy Conference Wednesday from three automotive executives, who said the industry faces a daunting challenge in making the industry attractive to investors and young talent in the future.

   Tim Leuliette, CEO of Visteon, the auto supplier spun off by Ford, explained that its U.S. hourly workers were paid $24 per hour 20 years ago and paid nothing for their health care; today, those workers make $17 per hour and pay $200 a month toward their health care

   “These people went from the middle class to the working poor,” he said, in order to make the company globally competitive. “But it came at a cost,” he added.

   It’s important for automotive companies to create a path for all workers to achieve a middle-class life, not just the engineers and finance people.

   John Kennedy, CEO of Autocam in Kentwood, near Grand Rapids, said, “We need to do a better job of marketing ourselves to families, make manufacturing a career of choice versus a career of last resort.”

   Autocam’s hourly workers who make fuel-system parts have an average wage of $53,000 a year, Kennedy said, and the company promotes an earn-to-learn program that pays employees for college classes they take to prepare for better-paying jobs.

   Colleen Haley, executive vice president of Yazaki North America, based in Canton, said the Japanese-owned supplier has forged strong relationships with five Michigan universities — University of Michigan, Michigan State, Wayne State, Lawrence Tech and University of Detroit Mercy — to recruit and mentor talent.

   Leuliette said the industry also needs to market the automobile as “the largest mobile device a consumer has” — a high-tech, cutting-edge product that offers the potential of careers full of innovation and potential growth.

   It used to be that auto companies put their newfangled technology initially into luxury brands like Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Cadillac and Lexus. But now companies like Ford have put new infotainment products like Sync into smaller, more modestly priced cars like the Focus.

   “Starting from the bottom with vehicles that young people can afford, because they are the early adopters of technology,” makes a lot of sense, he said.

   There’s an opportunity now to rekindle excitement that’s been lacking among investors and young talent for the auto industry.

   If that fails, there’s no guarantee that the hometown companies Ford, General Motors and Chrysler can continue to grow.