GM has announced that it will invest an additional $1 billion in U.S. manufacturing operations, creating a total of 7,000 new jobs here. Is it a case of "If I tweet them, they will come?" After the announcement, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump was quick to tweet about "all of the jobs I am bringing back into the US." Not so fast, say GM and industry watchers.
The new investments follow $2.9 billion announced in 2016 and more than $21 billion that GM has invested in its U.S. operations since 2009, according to a GM news release. The investments cover multiple new vehicle, advanced technology, and component projects. A combination of 1,500 new and retained jobs are tied to the new investments.
The company also announced it will begin work on insourcing axle production for its next generation full-size pickup trucks, including work previously done in Mexico, to operations in Michigan, creating 450 U.S. jobs.
The Detroit Free Press was among many media outlets to note that the GM announcement came "only a week" after Trump criticized the company about its outsourcing of work to Mexico. Trump took to Twitter almost immediately to take credit for the new investment, alluding to "all of the jobs I am bringing back into the U.S. (even before taking office)."
But ABC News has reported that "a GM spokesperson said that 'product development decisions are made well in advance' and that 'today's announcement is no different.' "
When questioned what role Trump played in the development, the spokesperson added that "all of the decisions behind today's announcement are good business decisions and they have been in the works for some time."
Despite today's news, GM still plans to cut more than 3,000 U.S. jobs over the next couple of months, including 2,000 jobs set to be cut Friday, inauguration day. Friday's cuts include about 1,200 workers in Lordstown, Ohio, and some 800 workers in Lansing, Mich., according to this CNN report. Plus, 1,300 workers in Detroit reportedly will lose their jobs in March.
Author
Michael Anderson, former senior editor at Cutting Tool Engineering magazine, holds a master's degree in written communication from Eastern Michigan University. He has been professionally writing about manufacturing technology since 1998, including more than 10 years at the Society of Manufacturing Engineers.
