Page 12 - aruba-today-20220719

A12 BUSINESS
Tuesday 19 July 2022

This May 12, 2020, file photo, shows a general view of the Renaissance Center, headquarters for
General Motors, along the Detroit skyline from the Detroit River.
Associated Press
GM CEO Barra says headquarters to

stay in downtown Detroit

By TOM KRISHER home-and-office schedule. collaboration and interac-
AP Auto Writer The company takes up tion to make sure that two,
NEW YORK (AP) — General about 1 1/2 of the Ren- three, four, five years from
Motors will keep its head- Cen’s towers, which have now, we still are maintain-
quarters in its seven-build- seen little pedestrian traf- ing the culture that we
ing office tower complex in fic for years. Much of GM’s think is so important for the
downtown Detroit, its CEO work force, including prod- company,” she said.
says. Mary Barra, in an inter- uct development and en- Whether hybrid work is per-
view with The Associated gineering, is north of the manent, she said, depends
Press, said the automaker’s city at an updated 1950s on the company and in-
main office will remain in technical center in subur- dustry. At GM, people have
the Renaissance Center, ban Warren. After GM’s gotten used to the flexibility
the centerpiece of the 2009 bankruptcy, the com- of working from home. Al-
city’s skyline just across the pany considered moving though workers don’t need
Detroit River from Canada. the headquarters there. to be at the office every
“Our headquarters will al- “As we move to having day at the same time,
ways be in Detroit, in the more of a hybrid work teams of workers do need
RenCen,” she said, using structure, we have to look time together, she said.
the name given to the at what’s the right space,” Barra also hinted at that
complex by locals. “Right Barra said. the company is exploring
now the plan is for it to be GM is still evaluating wheth- riverfront development op-
at the Renaissance Center. er the hybrid model is vi- portunities with the city. The
That’s our home,” she said. able for those who can do city is expanding a riverfront
Barra qualified her remarks, their jobs remotely. Like trail that will run from the
saying she can’t predict many CEOs, Barra wonders south side of downtown to
what will happen in five, 10 if working from home will still a bridge that connects to
or 15 years. allow for collaboration and an island park called Belle
She also said the compa- for reinforcement of a cor- Isle. “I think the riverfront is
ny has to look at its space porate culture. “There are a gem,” Barra said “The Riv-
needs now that many huge benefits to being in erwalk keeps getting voted
white-collar employees are the office,” she said. “I think one of the best in the coun-
staying at home much of we’ve got to make sure we try. So if there’s opportuni-
the work week on a hybrid have the right balance of ties that we can improve
that area and do the right
thing for the city, we will.”
Ironically, the Renaissance
Center was built by Henry
Ford II, who formed a co-
alition in the 1970s in an ef-
fort to reinvigorate Detroit’s
downtown. GM bought the
complex in 1976 and reno-
vated it, moving its head-
quarters from an area north
of downtown.q