From Detroit Free Press
No company that's cutting costs and restructuring can guarantee a soft landing for all its employees. But Ford and a temporary business it established last year, Automotive Components Holdings (ACH) of Dearborn, MI, are showing how struggling industries can help workers whose jobs are being eliminated to start a new, well-paying career.
ACH, an automotive parts supplier, is offering to pay for a college education for 3,500 blue-collar employees who agree to leave the company. Another 1,500 have already agreed to retirement packages or cash buyouts, as the company tries to trim its hourly workforce from 13,000.
The new education program will provide employees with annual tuition reimbursements of up to $15,000 a year for up to four years, family medical benefits and roughly half their pay while they're in school.
Moreover, the company will sponsor a series of education and opportunity fairs, bringing in college recruiters and career specialists, at its 13 Michigan plants.
John Fallon III, president of Eastern Michigan University, said older, non-traditional students are becoming the "new majority" at Eastern. "We see this as a moral obligation," said Fallon, who plans to attend some of the factory forums himself.
Ford is offering a similar Educational Opportunity Program to some employees whose jobs have been eliminated in New Jersey. Thousands of Michigan manufacturing workers have been forced to move from high-paying jobs to lower-paying employment with fewer benefits. The hopeful news is that some better-paying fields, such as skilled trades and health care, have labor shortages, and many of these jobs require less than a four-year degree.
But whether workers seek one-, two- or four-year degrees, they must understand that education and retraining are vital. ACH and Ford have provided excellent models for how companies that must eliminate jobs can help their loyal, hardworking employees succeed for life.
Copyright 2006 Detroit Free Press. All Rights Reserved.
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