Some VW Chattanooga job-seekers eye careers at plant as EV assembly to start this summer

Timothy Murphy, of Pikeville, Tennessee, said Thursday that he sees working for Volkswagen Chattanooga as a likely place to start a career and stay for a long time.

"They've got consistency," he said in an interview at the automaker's plant during a three-day job fair the company is holding to fill about 500 more posts as it preps to start producing an electric SUV this summer.

A steady stream of job-seekers showed up Thursday morning at the hiring event. An earlier job fair in May produced a heavy response and led to filling about half of the 1,000 new slots the automaker is creating this year to assemble the battery-powered ID.4 alongside the existing Atlas and Atlas Cross Sport SUVs, according to VW. The plant employs more than 4,000 workers.

Also Thursday, the automaker officially started work on its first battery factory in Germany. Located in Salzgitter, it's the start of about a half dozen such plants in Europe along with others planned globally, including in the United States.

"It's necessary for us to change," Volkswagen Group Chief Executive Herbert Diess said during a large event broadcast on the internet that included a short address by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Company officials said the new plant is the standard for all its future battery factories. VW also revealed a new battery company, PowerCo, that will bundle all major battery activities and control the European cell factories.

"It will be the central site of the worldwide battery business of Volkswagen Group," Thomas Schmall, group board member for technology at Volkswagen AG, said in remarks. "This writes a new chapter in Volkswagen history."

VW just wrapped up an $800 million expansion in Chattanooga to ready the plant for electric vehicle production. Last month, Volkswagen Chattanooga showed off a new $22 million battery engineering lab that officials say will help make the plant the epicenter of the automaker's EV efforts in North America.

According to VW, electric vehicles are the fastest-growing sector in the auto industry in America, and the company is aiming to take the sales lead from Tesla.

At the Chattanooga plant's job fair, Tammy Bigelow, of Delano, Tennessee, said in an interview that she heard VW has a lot to offer employees concerning pay and benefits that can support a family.

"We'll see how it goes," she said, adding that she had worked a production job at a small battery plant in Cleveland, Tennessee.

William Clover said he's visiting in the area from Clearwater, Florida, and an uncle urged him to check out the jobs at the VW plant.

"My dad worked production a long time," he said. "I definitely have an interest."

Burkhard Ulrich, vice president of human resources at Volkswagen Chattanooga, said in a statement that the goal is to fill the 1,000 new production positions by the end of this year.

"With continued interest and a second, larger career fair, we hope to reach our hiring goal ahead of schedule," he said.

The factory is hiring production employees primarily for the second, third and night shifts, according to VW. The starting hourly rate for those shifts can reach $24.40 when including shift premium and quarterly bonuses based solely on attendance, the company said. With wage progression, top-out rates including shift premium and quarterly bonuses, can reach $33 per hour. The posts are direct hire positions, the company said.

Also, production and maintenance team members hired before Oct. 31 are eligible for a $3,000 signing bonus. Candidates who relocate to join Volkswagen's production team are eligible for a $2,500 stipend, according to the company.

Last week, Volkswagen of America posted lower second-quarter sales like most automakers. VW sales were 78,281 units, down 34.4% from a year ago. Atlas family sales fell 34.8%, according to the company.

Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318. Follow him on Twitter @MikePareTFP.