The Electric Vehicle Transition and the Future of Work

• In Event: 50462 - Section on Science, Knowledge, and Technology Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 6: Labor

Abstract

Due to rising environmental concern, government policies to address climate change, and the improvement of battery and electronic technologies, electric vehicles (EVs) have become a transportation technology that enables personal mobility with less environmental impact. Inspired by policy initiatives to fight climate change, subsidies and regulations have appeared to encourage EV adoption by building necessary infrastructure, and/or providing financial support to automakers, suppliers, or consumers. Thanks to these subsidies and incentives, EVs are rising in popularity, especially in China and Europe, with important implications for the future of the auto industry, its workers, and its production processes. The EV transition also holds profound implications for the future of work for millions of workers around the world. The starting point for analysis is that the push for EVs and the gradual reduction of internal combustion (IC) auto production will effect the workforce and production processes at all auto companies and suppliers. This paper is a comparative historical analysis of the how the EV transition is transforming auto work in three countries: the United States, Germany, and China. Each country’s auto industry is assessed via five dynamics that stand to transform the future of auto work: direct labor changes between IC and EV auto production, geographic changes in factory locations both within and a country and outsourcing, capital-labor struggles, retraining and workforce development, and the continuous push for productivity and automation. Each country is conceptualized a value-regime that is oriented toward circulating and accumulating capital within the value-regime in competition with other value-regimes. In addition, each value-regime possesses unique characteristics that shape the development of EV manufacturing and the future of work within each social context.

Author

• Anthony Jack Knowles, University of Tennessee-Knoxville