Big Three Automakers May Hire 36,000 New Skilled Workers

The Big Three are gearing up to hire roughly 36,000 workers over the next four years. The companies are primarily looking for a younger, more educated workforce.

According to excerpts from the article:

The three automakers will hire about 36,000 hourly and salaried workers in Michigan over the next four years to replace those who are taking buyouts or retiring, a study from Ann Arbor's Center for Automotive said recently.

The bulk of those Michigan jobs will be hourly production positions. But the new hires will need different skills than those who went before them, said Dan Flores, a spokesman for GM.

"Some of the key skills we look for are problem-solving ability, communication skills, having the ability to work with a team and collaborate," Flores said.

That's because GM's new manufacturing system, already in place at the Lansing Delta Township and Lansing Grand River plants and being rolled out internationally, relies on hourly workers to find solutions to production problems and inefficiencies.

Prospective new hires are tested for those skills by a third party, Flores said. And only those who demonstrate an aptitude for working in that environment can earn a spot on the work floor.

"Generally speaking, we have some of the best manufacturing jobs in the world," Flores said. "We need the best people available."

Taking additional colleges at a community college also might give job seekers an edge, said Bob Sherer, executive director of the Capital Area.

Skills such as computer aided design and engineering and a knowledge of manufacturing systems can be picked up at two-year colleges such as Lansing Community, he said. LCC also offers training in alternative fuels, a topic increasingly important to the auto industry.

New high school graduates could see the benefit of the hiring boom next year, researchers from the Center for Automotive Research said, largely because the new nonassembly production jobs will pay an average of $14 an hour, about half of the current average wage for hourly workers at GM.

Read the entire article here.