Car workers ‘abandoning production lines to defect to Amazon’
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Auto workers are leaving production lines to defect to Amazon, says the boss of the auto industry trade group
Fears: Mike Hawes, chief exec of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders
Car workers have left the production lines to work at Amazon, the head of an industry association claims.
Mike Hawes, CEO of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), said they were lured by lucrative sign-up bonuses.
The comments highlight the struggle to fill jobs faced by employers in the UK as there are over a million vacancies. It comes despite reports of poor working conditions – disputed by the company – at Amazon’s factories and, most recently, strikes and job losses.
Hawes said, “A major manufacturer lost a significant number of its workers to an Amazon factory down the road.
“They might want to come back in 12 months when they find out what it’s like to work for Amazon, but you’ve lost them.” The SMMT reported a third year of decline for British automakers.
Last year only 775,014 cars rolled off the line, 9.8 percent less than the year before and more than half a million fewer than in 2019. It is the lowest number since 1956.