GM Canada just rocked the industry, and it might already be story of the year

It’s entirely possible that the top automotive news story of 2022 has already happened: GM Canada hired 1,200 people to reboot the Oshawa Assembly Plant, and about half were women.

Gender parity in the auto industry seemed impossible just one short year ago when, in this very space, I wrestled with distressing survey information that indicated 64 per cent of women don’t consider the auto industry because they don’t see other women in the auto industry.

That would mean that any job openings at a male-dominated dealership or supplier or factory would likely be filled by another male.

I wrote: “Ergo, if it takes women in the auto industry to attract women to the auto industry, then how do you bring women into an industry with few women?”

Well, GM figured out the how: Start with a blank slate.

Our most recent story details GM’s hiring efforts directed at women and a process that didn’t require previous experience. This is incredibly logical in that if GM had favoured manufacturing experience, it would have limited the talent search to predominantly male applicants. Instead, the company created a skills-assessment approach and invested in training.

“The learning curve is going to look a little bit different when you bring in less-experienced team members, but we think in order to achieve the diversity goal and create this vision we had for what the workplace culture would look like, that that’s a sacrifice we were more than willing to make,” said Christopher Thomson, human resources and labour relations director for the Oshawa plant.

Just as interesting is what enticed women to apply in the first place. In an interview with Toronto Bureau Chief David Kennedy, Muriel Matthews, 27, said she actually had hoped to work at Oshawa Assembly one day. It seemed a career change was in the cards: Matthews worked at a deli, and although she didn’t say it, the predominantly female service-industry workforce has taken a pounding during the pandemic. A regular and reliable schedule and a starting hourly rate of nearly $25 would be a refreshing change.

But likely as important was the supportive climate at the plant. GM’s assessors were an even split of men and women, according to Thomson, and Matthews felt comfortable.

“She [the assessor] was fabulous, and she just made me relaxed right away,” Matthews said. “She’s like, ‘You got this,’ and she showed me, and we did it and I felt so good after.”

Silverado HD pickups began rolling off the assembly line in early November. Matthews leads a team of six on the paint line.

There’s still more work to be done as GM now needs to maintain that culture of gender diversity. With an even mix of women and men, that might be the easy part.

GM’s success doesn’t mean the gender-diversity battle is over. Far from it. While a major breakthrough, it doesn’t change the Deloitte data that 64 per cent of women don’t consider the auto industry because they don’t see other women in the auto industry. It’s not like most businesses can create a blank slate — they’re not going to fire everyone and refill the positions in a 50:50 manner — but there are many lessons here. Perhaps first and foremost, the Oshawa situation unwinds any notion that women are not attracted to jobs in the auto industry.