The cars I’ve driven: 1990s Honda Accord station wagon, 2000s Ford Aerostar van, 2000s fullsize Toyota Camry, 2000s compact Toyota hybrid Prius, 2000s Toyota Camry, and a 2010s compact Honda Civic. I’ve never driven a GM (maybe as a rental), and I don’t think I will be.
Back in March (2019), GM announced layoffs and forced relocations at factories around the U.S. The Marketplace story I’ve hyperlinked tells of a factory worker who worked at the GM factory in Lordstown, Ohio. GM closed the plant in March. The worker was offered a job in Missouri, which if he didn’t take, he would be laid off. Lordstown, OH to St. Louis, MO? Just under 580 miles, an 8.5 hour drive.
I don’t know about you, but I hate moving. I’ve moved out of state three times. I hated it every time. The stress and anxiety are terrible. I think I cried each time. I freaked out just moving one county over. I would not want have to move for a job, alone, leaving my family several states away, which many GM factory workers are doing. I’ve never HAD to move for a job, so I can only imagine how trying this must be for these people.
Surely, GM’s CEO, Mary Barra, is sharing in that pain, right?
Not so much. Per GM’s public filings, Ms. Barra made over $21 Million in 2018, and made over $21 Million in 2017 and 2016. Ms. Barra’s compensation is 281 times GM’s median salary of just under $78,000. (Compare to Boeing’s x166 and Honda’s CEO salary of less than $2 Million.)
Pay your people and maybe try not to upend their lives,
The Anxious, Amateur Economist
The Anxious, Amateur Economist 