GM INVESTINGBIGTIME TOPRODUCEALL-ELEC- TRIC TRUCKS AND AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES General Motors announced it will invest $3 billion for production of “a variety” of all-electric trucks and SUVs, as well as the automaker’s recently unveiled Cruise Origin autonomous vehicle. The investment will include $2.2 billion at GM’s Detroit-Hamtramck plant in Michigan, which will be the company’s first plant completely devoted to all-electric vehicles, and $800 million in supplier tooling and “other projects related” to the vehicles at several facilities, the automaker said. The all-electric truck production is expected to include a Hummer pickup under the GMC brand. Production of GM’s first all-electric pickup is expected to begin in late 2021, according to the company. Production of the Cruise Origin, which GM and its Cruise autonomous vehicle unit will follow “soon” after.
RESTAURANTS RECRUITING SENIOR CITIZENS TO REPLACE TEENAGE WORKERS As the U.S. labour market becomes tougher restaurants are now recruiting in senior centres and churches to replace teenage workers. They’re placing want ads on the website of AARP, an advocacy group for Americans over 50. According to recruiters older workers have soft skills needed in the fast food business such as a friendly demeanor and punctuality that their younger co-workers sometimes lack. The main reasons behind this growing trend are a labour shortage amid the tightest job market in almost five decades, and the propensity for lon- ger-living Americans to keep working if only part- time to supplement their retirement income. Between 2014 and 2024, the number of working Americans aged 65 to 74 is expected to grow 4.5 per cent, while those aged 16 to 24 is expected to shrink 1.4 per cent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which is a growing concern for the fast food and retail industries.
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JANUARY 2020 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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