UK government primed to discuss job losses at Vauxhall
Today's announcement that Vauxhall, and parent company General Motors Europe, will be sold to Canadian outfit Magna has put the UK government on alert for job cuts. The Vauxhall operation currently supports 5000 jobs in the UK and there are serious concerns that the new owner will look to cut costs as soon as possible and many jobs may go.
This is something of an embarrassment for the UK government as it has been fighting for months to support the Magna bid only to find out that potentially hundreds if not thousands of jobs could be at risk in the UK. The UK government may well need to come forward with a plan of assistance, with financial backing probably required, to ensure that Vauxhall UK does not close down altogether.
One major concern is the fact that the Magna bid is part funded by Russian investors who obviously have access to cheap labour in their home country. It is very much open to debate as to how this particular episode will pan out but the UK government will need to take a leading role if UK jobs are to be secured in the short to medium term. In hindsight, this is probably the worst case scenario for the UK authorities.
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