Middle Class Jobs?

Today, General Motors announced that they would be laying off 30,000 employees and shutting down 12 plants across the nation. Union leadership claimed this was another example of the destruction of middle class manufacturing jobs.

These employees make an average of $25 per hour and have nearly there entire benefits paid for by the corporation. At GM supplier, Delphi, management has needed to make similar decisions to cut jobs. Similarly paid jobs actually cost Delphi a total of $65 per hour (when including benefits). If we are actually concerned about losing American jobs, consumers will have to either make a conscious decision to spend more money on goods (and thereby consume less), or manufacturing workers must take significant pay cuts (to about $20 per hour including benefits, which works out to a salary of approximately $13 per hour). Neither of these are likely popular, and therefore, more jobs will be cut.

It is inevitable.