Does anyone know of the total number of jobs that are dependant on motor vehicles? Not just in manufacturing, but everything from servicing, making tax disc holders, valeting, and all the other countless industries and professions that would disappear if the car did.
I am trying to show an eco warrior that his assertion that motoring is subsidised to the tune of £1000 per annum per vehicle by taxpayers is a tad looney.
Edited by Pugugly on 13/11/2008 at 18:24
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Probably an uncalculatable number! - everything from gathering the raw material for fabricating the trim to pressing the smallest washer has to be either done or overseen by somebody, so i would estimate somewhere in the thousands, and that doesn't include the folk that make the machines that are used by folk to make car parts! ;-)
Billy
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Hmm, wonder what these folk did before cars became the choice of transport for the masses;...oh I remember now, they worked in the railway industry at the time when we built locomotives for the rest of the world....
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Employees directly dependent on the UK automotive sector: 851800 in 2006.
If you're talking to an aboreal frotterist you can also incur their wrath by the following stats in producing one vehicle:
Energy consumption: 2500kWh
CO2 produced: 700kg
Water used: 3300kg
Waste to landfill: 17kg
All courtesy of PU's recent SMMT stats link.
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One of the big boom industries of the last 10 years has been automotive. From new car sales downwards the economic prospects have been on an up-tick. But it's been funded by cheap credit and so the question is really how important is the automotive industry in the absence of cheap credit? One of the things that will become clear in the economic shakedown to come is which jobs are 'real' and which are dependent on funny money. Unfortunately I suspect a lot of the automotive-related industry relies on the latter.
Edited by Baskerville on 13/11/2008 at 09:19
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Employees directly dependent on the UK automotive sector: 851800 in 2006.
If you then factor in the indirect dependency, you have to add people employed in road construction and maintenance, motoring organisations, media [TV, newspapers, internet to include the likes of this forum and shows such as Top Gear], service stations, accessory and parts shops.
Then you have to add the people whose jobs depend on supplying the above employees with their food, clothing, housing, medical-care, etc.
.. which jobs are 'real' and which are dependent on funny money ..
Saw a twenty-something graduate who had lost her job being interviewed yesterday. Her main concern was that she was not going to be able to keep her car as she could not meet the PCP repayments without a job.
"real jobs" - Here we get in to realms of philosophy. Here is my contribution in two or three sentences:
In my view, jobs which are needed to provide you the minimum food and shelter for survival are the real jobs. I have in the past met genuine refugees fleeing persecution who prove that point [as is also obvious when you see TV reports on the current crisis in Goma, Congo; the Agencies providing food and shelter are doing real jobs].
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I take your point about 'real' jobs, but what I meant was, jobs that are funded by real economic activity. So for instance many jobs in estate agencies and financial services have been funded by rising house prices and that increasing wealth was not 'real' in the sense of 'I grow potatoes and sell them for a slim profit'. Similarly, as we are now seeing, the level of demand for motor vehicles was not 'real' because it was almost entirely supported by the availability of cheap credit. Many car makers these days are essentially financial institutions with a manufacturing arm tagging along behind. And of course the amount of actual wealth available for buying cars now is much lower than the amount of credit available this time last year. That's why sales are apparently back to 1960s levels, a time when credit was much harder to come by. The problem is that the entire physical infrastructure of the Western world has been adapted over 30 (or more in the case of the US) years to take advantage of these conditions.
Obviously for the individual it is a question of what puts food on the table and a roof over your head--at that level it's irrelevant to the individual where the money comes from.
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Since vehicle buying has fallen much further than vehicle driving, it should follow that businesses which depend on maintenance and selling used, rather than selling new, should benefit? That sector is a good part of 'automotive-related jobs'. And don't forget to include DVLA, motor insurance, ....
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They may not be "real" jobs.
They may also be disappearing with this crunch.
As to whether they are funded by the taxpayer? Take out the money the motorist puts into the economy and what do we have left? I think the reverse is true; the motor trade (with everything included) is all our economy is now dependant on (it used to be houses!)
However, our society is now so far involved around motors that they will not and cannot disappear. Its just time for a new perspective.
Most people need a car to get to work and to get to the shops. Therefore to provide food and shelter a car is needed. Sad but true!
I personally wish we had more proper manufacturing jobs; and have supported that view through the better times too. Bit late now though !
Edited by yorkiebar on 13/11/2008 at 10:57
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>Therefore to provide food and shelter a car is needed.
A few may end up using their car for shelter ...
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