Depths of Delphi Packard cuts are a shock to Valley

The startling news that Delphi Packard Electric in Warren plans to eliminate 75 percent of its jobs leaves the Mahoning Valley facing it's most dramatic economic challenge in a generation.
Even before Delphi Corp. filed for protection of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, it was assumed that the Warren operations would see job losses through attrition. With bankruptcy, the prospect of buyouts for veteran employees and some level of decreased compensation for those who stayed was foreseen.
But the Warren operations of what had once been the Packard Electric Division of General Motors had remained profitable under the new Delphi corporate umbrella. And Warren had not been identified as a plant closing site when Delphi announced its restructuring plan.
So when workers were told early last week that under the recently approved buy-out plan Delphi Packard is looking to reduce the workforce from about 3,800 employees to just over 1,000, it came as a shock.
Challenging days ahead
The challenge these cutbacks present to the area is not unlike that which developed in the late 1970s, when the re-entrenchment of the steel industry cost the area tens of thousands of jobs.
The dramatic Delphi development is the most recent in a long line of cutbacks in automobile and auto parts manufacturing in the Mahoning Valley. Delphi has been shifting jobs to plants outside the area and outside the country for decades. General Motors has gradually reduced its work force at the Lordstown fabricating and assembly plants.
A 75 percent cut in Delphi's workforce, coupled with recent buyouts and the loss of the third shift at Lordstown, will leave the Mahoning Valley with fewer than 5,000 jobs in an industry that once employed more than 20,000.
Responding to this economic reality is going to take a coordinated effort by community leaders, established institutions, elected officials on the local, state and federal level and a commitment by individuals -- especially the displaced workers -- to find new ways of making this a productive area.
There are two things working in the area's favor this time, compared to the collapse of the steel industry. One: The companies are providing more generous separation payments than yesteryear's steelworkers received. Two: The community now knows that there are no silver bullets, no quick fixes for an economic catastrophe.
Rebuilding is going to take time and all of the Valley's stakeholders are going to have to begin working on a plan -- the sooner the better.