Volkswagen Chattanooga staffing contractor Aerotek is trying to fill 300 more jobs for the assembly plant as the facility ramps up production for its slate of vehicles.
Aerotek spokeswoman Gina Franz said Thursday that the 300 jobs are in addition to 175 slots the contractor announced in September that it needed to fill.
Aerotek and VW will hold a hiring event on Nov. 14 from 9 a.m. to noon at the assembly plant's conference room at Enterprise South industrial park, according to the contractor.
Aerotek is seeking workers with experience in production, manufacturing, machine operator, warehouse or logistics for the open slots.
Hourly pay ranges begin at $15.50 and increase to $17 after six months' time, the company said.
The employees will build the Atlas SUV, Atlas Cross Sport SUV and Passat sedan. The job opportunities are for a contract period and will run up to 24 months, according to Aerotek.
Aerotek said the hiring event will be "socially distanced." Personal protective equipment will be worn and safety precautions followed based on local guidelines, it said.
Aerotek is encouraging interested people to complete an online application prior to the event at https://events.indeed.com/event/71886/.
Also last September, Volkswagen unveiled plans to directly hire about 150 more production employees by year's end as it meets demand for existing vehicles and readies for building an electric SUV in 2022. The automaker is undergoing an $800 million expansion to produce the battery-powered vehicles.
VW said when it announced the expansion in January 2019 that it planned to add 1,000 new jobs in Chattanooga.
Tom du Plessis, president and chief executive of Volkswagen Chattanooga, said in September that the company's goal was to extend at least 10 job offers every week for the remainder of the year. Those positions are open in the body shop as well as for assembly, paint, quality and logistics, according to VW.
Volkswagen, in addition to directly hiring new production employees, is continuing to convert over contract workers, the plant CEO said.
Amanda Plecas, head of communications at Volkswagen Chattanooga, said the automaker is increasing its overall headcount at the plant to meet growing customer demand as the factory prepares for electric vehicle assembly.
"Our goal is to fill at least 150 of our open experienced production team member positions by the end of the year, and we will continue hiring in 2021," she said. "These are new jobs related to the expansion as well as to help meet current demand."
Early this year, VW announced it was aiming to hire 600 more employees. But then in March, the company shut down production at the Chattanooga plant for a period due to the coronavirus outbreak.
With the new hires, employment at the plant would top 4,000.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @MikePareTFP.