Employment for the Canadian automotive sector improved at the end of the third quarter — down only 12.9% versus the 13.9% decline during the first half of the year, according to DesRosiers Automotive Consultants (DAC).
However, DAC also notes that the recovery process has been slow across most of the automotive industry.
The motor vehicle manufacturing sector, for example, which has been — dealing with a double impact from the pandemic and the closure of the General Motors Oshawa plant is still 18.3% below 2019 levels.
And auto dealers, which experienced a significant decrease of 38.0% in April were down 11.0% in September, and 16.6% year-to-date, according to DAC’s update.
“The recovery process in employment has been slow for the automotive sector, claiming back just under 15,000 jobs relative to the first half,” said Andrew King, Managing Partner at DAC. “But signs of recovery are present nonetheless with improvements noted for key sub-sectors.”
Some areas of the broader automotive sector fared slightly better: Q3 YTD, auto repair and maintenance employment is down 12.6%, motor vehicle parts and accessories manufacturing is down 11.9%, and auto parts and accessories stores are down 10.1%.
DAC said gasoline service stations and the highway/street/bridge construction industries were within 10% of their 2019 employment figures, on average. However, their spring decreases were much less dramatic than other sectors.
Positive news from the Unifor negotiations with GM and news of the first vaccine arrivals should help slowly turn things around.
