This Indianapolis Star article suggests that, while Ford's drastic measures will hurt Indiana, they may be all the company can do to save itself. But what if, suggests this provocative commentary, Ford is speeding its own decline with its employee buyout program?
The article ought to ask "what kind of automotive worker would choose to take the cash offer?" The answer, of course, is those whose opportunity costs are low, namely, those who can get cash from Ford and are confident that they can get a new, well paid job somewhere else. When I've seen similar programs rolled out elsewhere, we called this group "the competent".
Who should not take the offer and hang on to their current job? Why, those whose opportunity costs are high, namely those who could not find another employer based on the skill set they have now and the skill set they can reasonably develop over time, at their current wage. We used to call this group "the overpaid".
