A third of businesses around Holden’s Elizabeth plant are at risk of closure due to the impact of the car maker ending its Australian manufacturing, according to research by the Australian Workplace Innovation and Social Research Centre.
The ABC reports that it is first detailed survey since Holden announced in December that it would end its Australian car assembly operations in 2017.
Impact of the auto industry closure collected responses from over 450 northern Adelaide businesses. It found a third of these expected an impact on their future viability, and about 40% of businesses expected to have to lay off employees.
The report states that the impact is expected to be particularly pronounced in the suburb of Playford, with 45% of employers expecting to have to cut jobs.
Associate professor John Spoehr says that the report is evidence that more is needed by government to mitigate the effects of Holden’s shutdown. The findings were “a bit like the proverbial canary in the coalmine,” Spoehr told the ABC.
“It’s a warning that unless we take action, there could be some serious consequences of inaction.”
The Australian Government has allocated $100 million to assist with the transition of the country’s economy away from auto manufacturing. But Spoehr says $1 billion over the next five years will be necessary.
The CEO of Business SA, Nigel McBride, says the social impacts on an already stressed area needed to be considered.
“This is certainly a bigger, more holistic problem than simply business closure, because that will trigger a domino effect in all of these other areas,” he told the ABC.
This article originally appeared on the ABC website.
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