Vauxhall staff set to remain furloughed
THE boss of Vauxhall has warned its factories may not be operating at full tilt again until the end of the year, with thousands of staff likely to remain furloughed for months.
Stephen Norman, managing director of the car maker, said he is ‘absolutely delighted’ by the announcement that car showrooms can reopen from Monday.
It means the company can press ahead with making cars and vans, having closed its plants when the UK was locked down in March.
Norman was vocal about his frustration that car plants were allowed to reopen this month, but dealers were not – meaning manufacturers had nowhere to sell their vehicles.
Vauxhall reopened in Luton, which makes the Vivaro van, just over a week ago, to cater for demand in Europe.
But its Ellesmere Port site in Cheshire, which makes the Astra family hatchback, remains out of action.
The aim now is to reopen the plant next month. But Norman warned that it would be some time before factories operate at the same level as they were before the lockdown, with many staff likely to remain furloughed for much of the year.
As long as safety protocols are in force, it is impossible to operate at full tilt, even if the demand for new cars is there.
Staff – in protective gear – have to work two metres apart, obeying social distancing rules, and the production line has to be stopped every hour for cleaning.
Vauxhall has furloughed roughly 80pc of its 5,500 UK staff – around 4,400 employees – who are receiving subsidies worth up to 80pc of their monthly pay under the government’s job retention scheme. At Luton, just 650 of 1,600 staff are back at work – a number which will gradually increase as production ramps up.
It is not yet known how many of the 1,062 staff at Ellesmere Port will return to work when it reopens. Asked when the factories will be working at full capacity, Norman said: ‘I would say in Quarter Four of this year. But I mean it’s my forecast. There may be other factors that come and prove it may be earlier than that or later than that.’
A string of big companies, including Rolls-Royce, British Airways, Tui and Virgin Atlantic, have furloughed staff before announcing brutal jobs cuts.
Asked whether Vauxhall might do the same, Norman insisted that employees have nothing to fear. He said: ‘There is absolutely no question about that.’
‘Nobody wants to rely on anyone other than your own commercial acumen to pay staff. So the sooner we can get demand up and running, the sooner we can make the produce and the sooner we can pay our own wages.
‘That’s got to be the motive of everybody I think.’ There are fears that demand for cars, which was ailing before the lockdown due to a backlash against diesel and slowing demand, will be muted when the lockdown lifts and the damage to the economy and jobs becomes clearer.
Car sales have slumped, with industry figures revealing a 97pc fall in new registrations in April.
But Norman is adamant that the crisis may spur demand as many shun public transport. He said: ‘We believe that there will be an increase in the interest for what I call everyday small cars.’