ANN ARBOR – Many young adults in Michigan don’t consider the auto industry a good career path and would leave the state for jobs they consider more innovative, according to a new survey.
The survey, released Monday by MICHauto, part of the Detroit Regional Chamber, shows that Michigan’s dominant industry has lingering perception problems even as it undergoes a high-tech revolution to electric and autonomous vehicles.
“We have some work to do with youth, both inside and outside the state,” said Glenn Stevens Jr., vice president of automotive and mobility initiatives for the chamber and executive director of MichAuto, an association representing the industry.
“We know we need talent in the industry, so we need to drive young blood.”
The auto industry, which employs about 175,000 statewide, is struggling to hire and retain workers like many other businesses in Michigan.
The state has an unemployment rate of 3.6 percent, the lowest in 23 years, but is 49th in population growth. A lack of workers makes it tough for businesses to expand and for the state to attract new companies.
Key to reversing that trend is retaining Michigan’s young adults and attracting 20-somethings from other states. About 45 percent of Michiganders who left the state for work-related reasons in recent years were between the ages of 18 and 34, according to the state’s Growing Michigan Together Council, formed to seek solutions to Michigan’s stagnant population.
That’s not going to be easy, according to the auto industry survey. Lambert, a national public relations firm with an office in Grand Rapids, conducted the online survey of 860 adults ages 17-24, primarily in Michigan.
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