Thirty-six-year-old Stephen worked at Ford’s Chennai factory for nearly 15 years and earned around Rs 72,000 per month. Today, he struggles to find a job to support his family and to pay the EMI for the house he bought. The key reasons for this are his age, the high salary he earned at Ford and the history of unionism and strikes in Ford. Stephen is not alone. Hundreds of former Ford workers see a question mark over their future due to these same factors.
In September 2021, Ford India announced its decision to stop vehicle assembly at their factory in Sananad, Gujarat by the fourth quarter of 2021, and vehicle and engine manufacturing at their factory in Maramali Nagar, near Chennai by the second quarter of 2022.
Stephen, Mahesh and Shankar are among the four thousand employees who have lost their jobs because of this decision. They have all worked in the Ford factory for 10 to 15 years. Stephen and his friends have applied to many companies but have faced rejection everywhere. A few of them have now started driving auto rickshaws, hired cars or attached themselves to ride-sharing companies.
This scarcity of jobs is even though they live in the heart of a thriving auto hub. Today, Chennai is one of the largest automobile hubs in the world and new brown- and green-field projects are being announced regularly. Tamil Nadu is one of the top 10 automobile hubs in the world and home to India's top auto clusters.
Denne historien er fra 15th October 2022-utgaven av Autocar Professional.
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Denne historien er fra 15th October 2022-utgaven av Autocar Professional.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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