An automotive manufacture workers’ union says a raft of job losses in the car industry could trigger a domino effect around the country.

The Federation of Automotive Products Manufacturers (FAPM) has warned that each job lost now will mean more will go later down the line. FAPM projects 215,000 vehicles will be produced in Australia for 2013, down from the 407,000 produced in 2004.

Richard Reilly, CEO of FAPM, says “Every car we make has 30,000 individual parts. The futures of all the people who make these components, right across the country, are in limbo right now... make no mistake - people must realise that there are hundreds of thousands of further jobs that will be lost in Australia unless critical steps are taken now to alleviate the current crisis.”

The FAPM says that for each job generated in the car industry, up to six positions in ancillary groups such as automotive part manufacturers are created. If the same is true in reverse and the current rate of termination continues it is estimated 300,000 jobs will be wiped-out in the next five years. 

Other experts have said there is a critical mass of Australian heavy industry (engineering, metal fabrication, electronics, etc.) below which the nation would be able to produce almost no significant machinery. They say a vibrant manufacturing industry is central to the country’s livelihood.

Christopher Tipler, author of Corpus Rios - an HR and business strategy book - has offered some advice for those in human resources at trying times for their companies; “HR professionals have to become the chief 'storytellers' for their organisations. They have to help the transitions by understanding the strategy of their business, translating it into a story that makes sense to employees.”