US President Joe Biden. Picture: JIM LO SCALZO/EPA/BLOOMBERG
A Bloomberg analysis of plant-closure notifications sent by companies to state officials around the country shows the fallout from the pandemic is far from over. Employers, who have already cut a net 582,000 factory jobs compared with the pre-Covid-19 level, aim to emerge leaner and meaner from the crisis.
In a move intended to boost morale, the company has reinstated employees’ annual salary increases and kept health care premiums unchanged for at least some employees for the first time in years, according to a person familiar with the moves, who asked not to be identified because they were not authorised to speak with the media. But its 2020 annual government filing will likely show employment dropped for a second straight year. Caterpillar didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Biden and his team are well aware of the danger. Even as the president woos business support for his relief plan — showcased in an Oval Office meeting Tuesday with CEOs — he’s planning a bigger role for the government in this recovery, with money for both research and demand creation, via infrastructure programmes, procurement policies, reshoring initiatives and long-term priorities including climate change.