VW is hiring 800 in TN to up output

2:25 AM, Mar. 22, 2012
Written by
Chris Woodyard
USA TODAY

Volkswagen will announce today that it will add 800 jobs at its new Tennessee plant, the latest sign that rebounding car sales are boosting the manufacturing sector.

The new hires at the Chattanooga plant, just opened last year, will push total employment past 3,000, 50 percent more than the German automaker promised when it came to town. The hires will let VW run the plant 10 hours a day, six days a week.

The 800 new jobs follow 200 hires VW announced earlier this year. VW employs 2,200 people there and 500 more through contractor Aerotek.

VW joins automakers boosting production and hiring at plants across the Midwest and South as demand for new cars grows. Sales last month were at an annualized rate unseen since before the recession.

Demand grows

Consumers delayed buying as the economy sank. Their aging jalopies are forcing them to look for new, fuel-efficient cars, such as VW’s Passat sedan, made at the Tennessee plant.

“Quite plainly, we need more Passats to meet the market demand, and I’m glad that we can respond so quickly by adding staff in Chattanooga,” said Jonathan Browning, CEO of Volkswagen Group of America.

Also, a weak dollar has encouraged other makers from Europe and Asia to boost output at U.S. plants, and even to export from them.

The best news for the recovering economy: Every auto plant job generates five to seven more at parts suppliers and other auto-related businesses, says Harley Shaiken, a University of California-Berkeley professor and expert in auto-industry labor issues.

After cutting production and jobs when the recession struck, automakers now are trying to squeeze more output from remaining plants before opening new ones.

“One thing the collapse taught automakers is to think conservatively. VW’s (sales) success, in particular, has caused them to play catch-up,” Shaiken says.

The hires show VW is “pretty happy with the plant,” says Dave Cole, chairman emeritus of the Center for Automotive Research.

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