For decades, Michigan had an abundance of auto assembly plant jobs.
But the auto industry has changed over the years. Plenty of plants moved out of Michigan.
Now The Detroit News reports that the a surge in automotive research and development jobs may soon result, for the first time, in non-factory auto jobs outnumbering assembly plant positions in the state.
Business reporter Karl Henkel writes:
With the recession in the rear-view mirror and the aftereffects of the auto industry crisis winding down — including a 55 percent drop in statewide auto production jobs since 2000 — beefed-up R&D (research and development) operations continue to solidify southeastern Michigan as the automotive capital of North America, with a different makeup.
The growth rate of research and development jobs in the auto industry has nearly quadrupled in Michigan compared to that sector’s growth throughout the rest of the nation over the last four decades, and nearly half of Michigan’s quarter-million auto jobs are outside of a factory, according to a recent report compiled by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Automotive research and development in Michigan accounts for nearly $12 billion in annual spending, according to a recent economic report from Oakland University. That’s the most of any state.
Henkel notes that foreign automakers like Toyota are helping create some of the research and development jobs.
He reports that Toyota Motor Corp. has technical centers in Ann Arbor, Saline, Plymouth and Livonia and is spending another $28 million to expand operations. And Hyundai Motor America in 2012 announced plans for expansion and job creation in Superior Township.
