Employment growth in automotive sector

Jan 07 2012

Employment growth in automotive sector

Posted by Bianca Fredricksen in Life Insurance

The American auto industry is continuing its slow and steady recovery, and along with international manufacturers, is hiring a significant number of U.S. workers. Volkswagen has opened a plant in Tennessee which will need 2,000 workers and Honda is in the process of hiring 1,000 workers in Indiana, according to the Associated Press.In addition to foreign companies, General Motors is poised to hire 2,500 workers to help build the Chevy Volt. GM will be investing $69 million in the Detroit-Hamtramck factory and adding two shifts of workers to help make the Volt, as well as the Chevy Malibu and Impala.Surprising industry growthThis new hiring spree shows the industry is growing much faster than the rest of the economy, which has been slow to recover. Airplane manufacturers, shipbuilders, healthcare providers and the federal government are all lagging behind in their industry growth, the media outlet reports.Experts believe this sectors recovery is impressive because General Motors and Chrysler both needed government bailouts in order to avoid complete collapse. They entered bankruptcy proceedings in 2009, as auto sales hit a 30-year low.A positive sign for auto workersA mere 623,000 Americans were employed by the auto industry in June of 2009, and that number has grown by 12 percent to the current 700,000 employees. Adding jobs is a direct result to the increasing number of sales by both foreign and domestic carmakers.”The buzz is incredible around here about what opportunity were going to get if we can build a great product,” Ben Edwards, who went to work for Volkswagen in Chattanooga, Tennessee, last year and is now a team leader on an assembly line that installs tires and seats, told the source.Volkswagen is estimating its plant will also create an additional 9,000 spin-off jobs in the region, 500 of which may be in auto-supplier plants being opened nearby. Most companies laid off so many employees during the recession that they are now trying to rehire and rebuild staff to accommodate growing sales needs.Unusual job growth trendTraditionally the construction industry will see the first signs of growth in an economic recovery because the housing market is usually the first to turn around. Unlike years past, home prices continue to fall and construction jobs tend to be few and far between. The industry has dropped 8 percent of its workers over the last two years, the AP reports.Ohio has seen a 31 percent increase in auto manufacturing jobs since 2009, and parts makers in Michigan have hired almost 20,000 workers. Similar jobs have increased by 15 percent in Alabama and Kentucky, where parts are made for Mercedes, Honda, Chevy and Toyota.In addition to hiring manufacturers, these automakers are also hiring more white-collar workers. As the technology inside of vehicles advances and car safety improves, these companies need engineers with a certain level of expertise.

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