Ticker: Stellantis warns of 2,000+ job cuts; Pandemic pushed jobs out of cities, study

Stellantis is warning that it could lay off as many as 2,450 of the 3,700 union workers employed at a truck plant just outside of Detroit.

The job cuts would be at the Stellantis Warren Truck Plant, which builds an older version of the Ram 1500 pickup called the Tradesman, sold mainly to commercial businesses. The company came out with a new version of the truck in 2018, and for the 2025 model year there’s a new Tradesman.

It’s likely that job cuts will be lower than that because of early retirement offers that are under way already, and due to seniority bumping rights, said Stellantis spokeswoman Jodi Tinson.

Tinson says the layoffs could begin as soon as Oct. 8. The company said indefinitely senior union employees that are let go will receive 52 weeks of supplemental unemployment benefits and 52 weeks of transition assistance. That’s in addition to state unemployment benefits an employee might be eligible for. They will also get two years of healthcare coverage, the company said.

Pandemic pushed jobs out of cities, study

The pandemic changed where Americans are likely to live and work, with a growing portion of job openings moving away from the biggest cities and into smaller metro areas, according to a Federal Reserve Bank of New York analysis.

Job listings in large central metro areas now account for about 38% of total listings nationwide, down from 46% prepandemic, the researchers said. The portion of job openings in smaller metros increased, and the share of openings in “fringe” metros outside of large central cities held steady, the study showed.

“The biggest declines in job listings by occupation occurred in the largest and densest geographies, and the strongest increases in job listings by occupation occurred in the smaller and less populated geographies,” they said.

Originally Published: August 11, 2024 at 4:02 p.m.