Fig. 1: Overview of U.S. automotive sector employment from 2004 to 2022 and automotive job categories.
From: Higher labor intensity in US automotive assembly plants after transitioning to electric vehicles
a U.S. automotive sector employment consists of assembly and parts manufacturing jobs, with assembly jobs comprising 33% of total automotive jobs in 2022. During past periods of economic downturn, the percentage of jobs lost in the automotive sector exceeded that of the overall U.S. manufacturing sector, as seen during the recession of 2008 and the pandemic of 2019. b The transition from ICEV to BEV production will create shifts in the types and quantities of jobs in both assembly and parts manufacturing. BEVs will require workers to manufacture battery cells and battery packs instead of engines. Shadings in both panels indicate job categories as defined by the North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) codes. Assembly jobs: NAICS 3361. Engine parts jobs: NAICS 33631. Powertrain parts jobs: NAICS 33635. Other parts: NAICS codes 3363(x) according to the parenthesized values in (b). ICEV: internal combustion engine vehicle. BEV: battery electric vehicle. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.
