Plant closures in Australia’s automotive industry : Continuity and change

Journal article

Irving, Jacob, Beer, Andrew, Weller, Sally and Barnes, Tom. (2022). Plant closures in Australia’s automotive industry : Continuity and change. Regional Studies, Regional Science. 9(1), pp. 5-22. https://doi.org/10.1080/21681376.2021.2016071

Publication dates
Authors	Irving, Jacob, Beer, Andrew, Weller, Sally and Barnes, Tom
Abstract	This paper explores the possibility of using diachronic case study comparisons to shed light on continuity and change in policy interventions to manage plant closures. It compares the early results of a survey of workers retrenched in the 2017 closure of Australia’s passenger vehicle manufacturing industry with the results of a similar survey of workers who lost their jobs in the 2005 closure of Mitsubishi’s Adelaide engine-casting and components plant. Despite the 12 years of accumulated expertise in plant closure and structural adjustment management, this comparison shows remarkable similarities in the profile of the cohort of retrenched workers and remarkable similarities in their employment outcomes. The discussion reflects on conditions that produce continuity and change.
Keywords	plant closure; redundancy; automotive industry; policy intervention; Australia
Year	2022
Journal	Regional Studies, Regional Science
Journal citation	9 (1), pp. 5-22
Publisher	Routledge
ISSN	2168-1376
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)	https://doi.org/10.1080/21681376.2021.2016071
Scopus EID	2-s2.0-85122481657
Open access	Published as ‘gold’ (paid) open access
Research or scholarly	Research
Page range	5-22
Funder	Australian Research Council (ARC)
Publisher's version	OA_Irving_2022_Plant_closures_in_Australias_automotive_industry.pdf License CC BY 4.0 File Access Level Open
Output status	Published
Online	07 Jan 2022
Publication process dates
Accepted	26 Nov 2021
Deposited	07 Mar 2022
Grant ID	ARC/LP170100940

Permalink -

https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/item/8x6y5/plant-closures-in-australia-s-automotive-industry-continuity-and-change

Download files

Publisher's version

	OA_Irving_2022_Plant_closures_in_Australias_automotive_industry.pdf
License: CC BY 4.0
File access level: Open

110
total views
114
total downloads
1
views this month
3
downloads this month

These values are for the period from 19th October 2020, when this repository was created.

Export as

Related outputs

Just transitions in the Australian automotive sector?

Beer, Andrew, Weller, Sally, Dinmore, Helen, Ratcliffe, Julie, Onur, Ilke, Bailey, David, Barnes, Thomas William, Irving, Jacob, Horne, Sandy, Atienza, Josefina and Sotarauta, Markku. (2024). Just transitions in the Australian automotive sector? Contemporary Social Science. 19(1-3), pp. 178-198. https://doi.org/10.1080/21582041.2024.2322132

Rethinking job loss in an age of assetisation : Lessons from the study of precarious older workers

Barnes, Tom. (2023). Rethinking job loss in an age of assetisation : Lessons from the study of precarious older workers. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space. 56(3), pp. 717-735. https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518X231214937

Left-behind neighbourhoods in old industrial regions

Tierney, John, Weller, Sally, Barnes, Tom and Beer, Andrew. (2023). Left-behind neighbourhoods in old industrial regions. Regional Studies. pp. 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2023.2234942

Punish, protect or redirect? Synthesising workfare with ‘spatially Keynesian’ labour market policies in times of job loss

Barnes, Tom. (2023). Punish, protect or redirect? Synthesising workfare with ‘spatially Keynesian’ labour market policies in times of job loss. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space. 55(4), pp. 871-889. https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518X221140891

Covid-19 and the future of work : Continuity and change in workplace precarity

Barnes, Tom, Cotton, Dani and Kumar, Rakesh. (2022). Covid-19 and the future of work : Continuity and change in workplace precarity. In In Di Muzio, Tim and Dow, Matt (Ed.). Covid-19 and the global political economy : Crises in the 21st century pp. 153-168 Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/97810032504-32-13

Advancing debate on precarious workers and class interests : Evidence from warehouse workers in Australia

Barnes, Tom and Ali, Jasmine. (2022). Advancing debate on precarious workers and class interests : Evidence from warehouse workers in Australia. In In Threadgold, Steven and Gerrard, Jessica (Ed.). Class in Australia pp. 93-108 Monash University Press.

Geographies of job quality

Weller, Sally, Barnes, Tom and Kimberley, Nicholas. (2022). Geographies of job quality. In In Warhurst, Chris, Mathieu, Chris and Dwyer, Rachel E. (Ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Job Quality pp. 203-220 Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198749790.013.10

Articulations of workplace precarity : Challenging the politics of segmentation in warehouse logistics

Barnes, Tom and Ali, Jasmine. (2022). Articulations of workplace precarity : Challenging the politics of segmentation in warehouse logistics. The Sociological Review. 70(6), pp. 1163-1180. https://doi.org/10.1177/00380261211059918

(Extra) ordinary Geelong : State-led urban regeneration and economic revival

Johnson, Louise C., Weller, Sally and Barnes, Tom. (2021). (Extra) ordinary Geelong : State-led urban regeneration and economic revival. In In Bryson, John R., Kalafsky, Ronald V. and Vanchan, Vida (Ed.). Ordinary cities, extraordinary geographies : People, place and space pp. 85-107 Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781789908022.00013

Place-based industrial strategy and economic trajectory : Advancing agency-based approaches

Beer, Andrew, Barnes, Tom and Horne, Sandy. (2021). Place-based industrial strategy and economic trajectory : Advancing agency-based approaches. Regional Studies. 57(6), pp. 984-997. https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2021.1947485

Is there an Indian precariat? Evidence from the auto manufacturing industry

Barnes, Tom. (2021). Is there an Indian precariat? Evidence from the auto manufacturing industry. Journal of Contemporary Asia. 52(2), pp. 319-340. https://doi.org/10.1080/00472336.2021.1888148

Pathways to precarity: Work, financial insecurity and wage dependency among Australia’s retrenched auto workers

Barnes, Tom. (2021). Pathways to precarity: Work, financial insecurity and wage dependency among Australia’s retrenched auto workers. Journal of Sociology. 57(2), pp. 443-463. https://doi.org/10.1177/1440783320925151

Rethinking economic security in a precarious world

Parfitt, Claire and Barnes, Tom. (2020). Rethinking economic security in a precarious world. Critical Sociology. 46(4-5), pp. 487-494. https://doi.org/10.1177/0896920519850266

Employment, spillovers and 'decent work': Challenging the Productivity Commission's auto industry narrative

Barnes, Thomas William, Roose, Joshua Mark, Heap, Lisa and Turner, Bryan. (2016). Employment, spillovers and 'decent work': Challenging the Productivity Commission's auto industry narrative. Economic and Labour Relations Review. 27(2), pp. 215 - 230. https://doi.org/10.1177/1035304616649303