“E-mobility is booming in the USA – and people are loving the opportunity to help shape the future with us,” says Burkhard Ulrich, Human Resources Manager Volkswagen Chattanooga. This is where the first VW electric cars assembled in the USA will be built. The company is also creating a job boom in southern Tennessee: in order to soon be able to assemble the all-electric world SUV around the clock in three shifts, around 1200 new employees are being hired by the end of this year.
ID.4 production in Chattanooga -
US plant shapes up for e-mobility
E-cars are also becoming increasingly popular in the USA. Series production of the all-electric ID.4 started at the Volkswagen Chattanooga plant in this summer. Training is preparing the next generation for the automotive future.
Burkhard Ulrich started at Volkswagen in 1992, most recently working in Osnabrück. In July 2019, he moved to Chattanooga to the Volkswagen Group of America as Head of HR.
"People love the opportunity to help shape the future with us."
Burkhard Ulrich, Human Resources Manager Volkswagen Chattanooga
A massive recruiting campaign is currently underway. Volkswagen Chattanooga is not only recruiting digitally, but also at petrol stations and on billboards. “Anyone who fills up their car here in the region will see: the company is hiring,” says Ulrich. And indeed, quite successfully: within a few months, almost a thousand new employees were found; there were about ten times more applicants.
Volkswagen Chattanooga is not only hiring skilled workers for e-car production – but is also training them. The fostering of young talent starts early: even in Chattanooga’s schools, pupils can get to grips with robots, microcomputers and 3D printers, with digital design tools and topics such as renewable energies in company-sponsored E-Labs. In compact workshops and one-week summer camps, young people can learn about robot-supported high-tech automotive production.
Along with the ID.4 electric SUV, the US models Atlas and Atlas Cross Sport are also being assembled in Chattanooga.
Job training based on the German model
A crucial component of the “talent pipeline” is the high school “Mechatronics Academy” on the factory premises. Here, eight state teachers teach grades 11 and 12. In addition, ten instructors from VW also teach the students technical knowledge and practical skills – the tools they need for a subsequent two-year training programme at Volkswagen Chattanooga. The students can apply for the apprenticeship with their school-leaving certificate in their pockets. “This is unique, there is nothing else like it here,” says Ilker Subasi, Head of Training at the Volkswagen Academy.
"With our on-the-job training, we are establishing long-term employee loyalty."
Ilker Subasi, Head of Training at the Volkswagen Academy
Dual training was also introduced when the plant opened in 2011. The apprenticeship, which is divided into school-based and practical phases according to the German model, was a novelty – and is still an unusual concept for the United States. In the USA, an “apprenticeship fee” paid by the trainees to the company is still common, Subasi reports. Not the case at the car plant: here, apprentices receive a salary. “With us, no one needs a second job to finance their vocational training. Americans think that’s really cool. And at the same time, it creates a long-term bond.”
Up to 7,000 ID.4s currently roll off the production line in Tennessee every month.
New technologies, new knowledge
So far, the US models VW Atlas, VW Atlas Cross and VW Passat have been assembled in Chattanooga. At the beginning of 2022, assembly of the Passat was phased out, and in July that of the all-electric ID.4 began. There was also a great deal of interest among the core workforce in switching to battery production or to the assembly of the ID.4. At hands-on training stations, such as facilities from car body construction, the employees were able to practise the new work steps and hand movements. Two ID.4s and high-voltage batteries were brought to the USA from Germany as “training objects”.
Employees train to assemble the electric car.
Meanwhile, the staff has completed more than 75,000 hours of training. “We have also adapted our vocational training and the content accordingly. This includes, for example, high-voltage technology and automation technology,” says Head of Training Subasi.
Stability in spite of change
In the USA, staff turnover is traditionally high, with up to a quarter of industrial workers leaving their jobs each year. At the plant in Tennessee, the rate is much lower – about a third of the workforce has even been there from the beginning. Volkswagen Chattanooga is now the largest industrial employer in the region. The overall offer is just right, says Burkhard Ulrich: “A healthy corporate culture, good pay and health insurance – which is not a certainty in the USA. But we also offer development prospects, we are growing and will continue to do so.”
In Chattanooga, the all-electric SUV ID.4 is assembled in three shifts. Right: The all-electric ID.4 receives its electric engine system.
Media