There’s no mystery about who is responsible for Sherwin-Williams’ surprising decision to suspend its employee 401k match starting October 1, according to the Today in Ohio podcast crew:
President Donald Trump and a weak-kneed Congress.
The Cleveland-based paint giant’s announcement sent shockwaves through the local business community and provided podcast hosts with prime evidence for their argument that the current administration’s economic policies are harming American workers.
“The workers shouldn’t be mad at the company. They should focus their ire on Donald Trump, Bernie Moreno and everybody else in Congress that is doing this to America,” Chris Quinn said in Friday’s episode. He said Trump’s economic strategies have proven disastrous in the past and are heading in that direction now. “You don’t do tariffs… It cripples jobs.”
Sherwin-Williams CEO Heidi Petz attributed the decision to multiple economic factors: high mortgage rates freezing housing demand, inflation slowing DIY spending, and tariffs increasing costs on raw materials from China. This trifecta – all the result of Trump policies — has created what Leila Atassi described as “a perfect storm of fewer customers and higher costs.”
While the company has previously suspended 401k matches during the 2009 financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, the hosts positioned this latest move as a canary in the coal mine for broader economic troubles. They argued that the suspension reflects necessary belt-tightening by a responsible company faced with deteriorating economic conditions.
The discussion highlighted the disconnect between political rhetoric and economic reality regarding tariffs. “Trump sold this tariff strategy to his supporters as a way to bring manufacturing back and punish foreign competitors,” Atassi said. “But in reality, it’s doing the exact opposite of that. It is kneecapping U.S. Manufacturers who depend on global supply chains,” explained Atassi. “And Sherwin Williams is a perfect case study here.”
What makes this situation particularly alarming, according to the podcast hosts, is that Sherwin-Williams isn’t a struggling company but rather a stalwart of Cleveland’s business community. Atassi emphasized the point:
“Sherwin Williams is a blue chip Cleveland employer with steady profits and this global footprint. And if they’re feeling this pain so acutely that they’re cutting back on employee retirement benefits and things, imagine what that means for smaller manufacturers and family-owned suppliers who don’t have a cushion like Sherwin Williams has. This is just the beginning.”
The hosts drew connections to other economic warning signs, including layoffs at an aluminum fabrication company mentioned in a recent op-ed. The owner reportedly stated that his Trump-supporting employees were the ones being harmed because of a candidate they voted for, a pattern the podcast hosts suggest is repeating across the country.
Quinn rejected claims from some media outlets that current economic hardship is necessary medicine for an economy that was “falsely looking good,” calling such narratives “total nonsense.” He noted the former President Joe Biden handed Trump a roaring economy, which Trump is steadily crippling.
Listen to the discussion here.
Listen to full “Today in Ohio” episodes where Chris Quinn hosts our daily half-hour news podcast, with Editorial Board member Lisa Garvin, Impact Editor Leila Atassi and Content Director Laura Johnston.
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