Survey of 320 Laid Off From Big Three Firms : 70% of Auto Workers Back on Job

DETROIT — Even though some experts had warned that most of the auto workers laid off during the long recession would never return to their jobs because of automation and productivity gains, 70% of those furloughed by Big Three auto companies since 1979 have returned to their original jobs, according to a survey released Tuesday.

But, of the 30% who have not been called back to work, only 15% have found full- or part-time jobs, and they have generally been unable to match their previous incomes in their new positions.

The other 15% remain unemployed or have dropped out of the labor force completely, the survey found.

Union Helps Survey

The survey of 320 Michigan workers laid off from General Motors, Ford Motor and Chrysler was conducted last year by researchers from Boston College with the help of the United Auto Workers and with funding from the U.S. Commerce Department.

It is thought to be one of the most extensive studies of the status of laid-off auto workers conducted since the recession, and it is the first large-scale survey in which the UAW has participated.

Although the survey’s findings seem to contradict the general belief that most laid-off auto workers have never returned to their old jobs, the UAW still insists that it “confirms the terribly high cost that workers, their families and communities all pay when the auto industry is depressed.”

The Boston College survey found that the average worker laid off between 1979 and 1984 was jobless for at least 66 consecutive weeks, while about 20% of the laid-off workers were unemployed for two years or more.

More than 80% of those surveyed were laid off because of production cutbacks in their plants, while just 15% were victims of permanent or temporary plant closings.

Although total U.S. hourly employment at GM, Ford and Chrysler at the end of 1984 was still about 15.5% below 1979 levels, many of the workers who had been on long-term layoff have apparently been called back to their jobs because of openings created through retirements and attrition.

The survey found that Chrysler has recalled 98% of the Michigan workers it laid off during its long financial crisis, while GM has rehired 69% and Ford just 60%.

In spite of the company’s more celebrated problems, workers at Chrysler on average suffered the shortest layoffs (40 weeks), while Ford workers were unemployed the longest (72 weeks). GM employees were jobless for an average of 68 weeks.

About 75% of the workers surveyed sought other employment while they were laid off, but only 21% were able to find temporary jobs before they were called back by the Big Three.

With many of their unemployment benefits exhausted during their long layoffs, 43% said they used up all of their savings while they were laid off, while 23% missed mortgage or rent payments.

Another 28% of the workers surveyed lost all of their health insurance coverage while they were unemployed, and 7% were on some form of public assistance before their layoffs ended.

Seniority System

The workers who experienced the longest layoffs were those with the least time on the job and thus the last to be called back under the auto industry’s rigid seniority system. Of the workers who had less than five years of seniority when they were laid off, 38% had not held any kind of job between 1979 and the time they were interviewed for the survey in 1984.

In a summary of their findings, Boston College’s Barry Bluestone, Avery F. Gordon and Paul G. Schervish noted that the majority of those surveyed have been recalled to their jobs and are “enjoying improvements in earnings, while those re-employed outside of the auto industry have suffered absolute declines in earnings.”

Still, they found that many of those now working outside of the Big Three believe that their new jobs provide them with better job skills than they could have gained had they remained in the auto industry.