More than 1350 currently temporary workers at General Motors at about 14 facilities in the US would be getting full-time status by March, according to the company. 

The full-time workers are set to start at $21 to $24 per hour as per their seniority level in addition to receiving health care benefits at a low cost, dental and vision benefits, company 401(k) contributions and annual profit-sharing cheques. At a certain point they would be reaching the top wage of a full-time production worker that is $32.32 per hour. 

The other sites and manufacturing plants apart from Detroit are located in Michigan, Indiana, New York, Tennessee, Missouri, Kansas, and Kentucky. 

This is a result of negotiations between the United Auto Workers union and GM. After a 40-day strike in 2019 that had halted GM’s US production and raised the losses to $1 Bn, the agreement was struck between the union and the company that temporary workers can become permanent workers after two-three years, however, their starting pay would be lower than what the already existing full-time workers make. 

Key takeaway: 

As the automotive industry goes through major upheavals on a global scale in terms of the decreasing demand from the consumers in addition to the pressures put by new technologies, has resulted in a change the types of jobs that are available in this sector. Traditionally production-oriented and mechanical jobs are being replaced with automation and the learning curve is of building new skills is still playing catch up.