Volkswagen Chattanooga to Hire 800 to Meet Growing Demand

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn., March 22, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Volkswagen Group of America, Chattanooga Operations announced today that the company is creating an additional 800 new jobs at its Tennessee manufacturing facility.

The positions are needed as Volkswagen Chattanooga continues to ramp up capacity to meet customer demand for the new U.S.-produced Passat. This comes on top of an announcement earlier this year of 200 additional jobs at the Chattanooga plant, bringing the total new jobs in 2012 to 1,000.

"This is a clear sign that the plant ramp-up has been successful and is a validation that the Passat is of the highest quality," said Frank Fischer, CEO and Chairman of Volkswagen Chattanooga. "Our plant was designed to be flexible in order to respond to market demand and I'm proud that we've achieved this so quickly. This is a good day for Volkswagen and for the people of Chattanooga," Fischer said.

The Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga currently employs more than 2,700 people, about 2,200 by Volkswagen and an additional 500 by Aerotek, the company's staffing partner.

"We have made a commitment to this market, both in terms of products and investment. Our original commitment to invest $4 billion into the U.S. market continues to grow, with a parts depot announced last week and now another further commitment to employment here in Chattanooga," said Jonathan Browning, President and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. "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," Browning said.

The plant has been working daily overtime to meet the market demand. The additions to the workforce will allow the plant to extend its weekly production capacity while, at the same time, reducing the amount of overtime work for the existing team members.

"We promised a world-class work environment when we came to Chattanooga," said Hans-Herbert Jagla, Executive Vice President of Human Resources. "That commitment, along with our confidence in the market strength of the Passat, allowed us to accelerate the implementation of our third team. We came to Tennessee with a commitment to hire 2,000 people and we are proud that we are now growing our team to over 3,000."

The plant, the world's only LEED certified Platinum factory, opened in May of 2011 and builds the 2012 Volkswagen Passat, which was named the Motor Trend Car of the Year and has earned several other distinctions, including being ranked as the "Best Family Car of 2012," by kbb.com, the online version of Kelley Blue Book.

"Congratulations to Volkswagen and Chattanooga," said Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam. "The partnership between Tennessee and Volkswagen has been beneficial to both and serves as the perfect example of the private sector and the public sector working together," Haslam said.

"These 800 new positions are a combination of production and support functions," said Jagla. "We will use this opportunity to hire many of our current Aerotek contract employees. So, Aerotek will be recruiting to fill full-time contract production positions that will open up as a result. We will also be hiring additional supervisors, quality engineers, and professionals in a number of areas," Jagla said.

Applicants for production positions must be 18 years of age, have a high school diploma or GED, and have legal authorization to work in the U.S. Interested candidates can apply online with Aerotek at www.aerotektn.com. Aerotek will select candidates to move to the assessment process, including practical hands-on testing.

Candidates for professional positions like Production Supervisors, Engineers, and IT Specialists should apply online with Volkswagen at www.vwjobschattanooga.com.

About Volkswagen Group of America, Chattanooga Operations LLC

Volkswagen has invested $1 billion in the local economy for the Chattanooga plant and created more than 2,200 direct jobs in the region. According to independent studies, the new Volkswagen plant is expected to generate $12 billion in income growth and an additional 9,500 jobs related to the project. The Chattanooga manufacturing facility is the world's first automotive manufacturer to receive platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building certification program. The facility manufactures the all-new 2012 Passat sedan, specially designed for the North American market and winner of the Motor Trend magazine 2012 Car of the Year award, Kelly Blue Books Family Car of the Year and Cars.com Best of 2012 award.

SOURCE Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.