73 F
Mobile
66.8 F
Huntsville
70.9 F
Birmingham
51.8 F
Montgomery

Mazda-Toyota plant set to begin hiring bulk of workforce

TANNER — The Mazda-Toyota plant in the Huntsville-annexed portion of Limestone county will begin the hiring process for production workers on January 13, 2020. The facility and Alabama Industrial Development Training announced the news jointly on Tuesday.

The 3.7 million-square-foot plant is expected to be responsible for the yearly manufacturing of 300,000 vehicles. The hiring will continue on a rolling basis from January 13, 2020, until full production begins in 2022. The facility is aiming to begin manufacturing vehicles in 2021. Workers hired will be part of a facility headcount that is projected to total around 4,000 when the plant is fully operational.

The company has previously released to media that the jobs will pay an average salary of $50,000 per year before benefits. The group expects to make about 50 hires per week starting quickly after opening up for applications on January 13.

In a nod to Huntsville’s identity as The Rocket City, the two main production lines on which the hired employees will work are to be named Apollo and Discovery.

Mazda Toyota Manufacturing (MTM) told the Decatur Daily in October that they will most likely need 40,000 applicants to fill the 3,000 production positions at the plant.

“Why? Because we are projecting 7 to 10 percent that will actually pass our process.” Jamie Hall, a project manager and advisor for production hiring told the Daily.

Tom Korona, a general manager at the plant, added about hiring, “Our focus at first will be major cities within a 25-mile radius, including Huntsville, Madison, Decatur and Athens, expanding to major cities 50 miles out, then 75 miles out.”

The facility’s construction is proceeding apace. In December the facility’s Twitter account posted, “Our future home is coming right along… Membrane Roofing – 60% complete, Concrete Floors – 40% complete, Fire Protection Piping – 60% complete, & Underground utility piping – 75% complete.”

Interested applicants for the production jobs should begin their applications on Mazda-Toyota’s website where they will enter basic information for screening. The site also details the specifications and qualifications desired for the floor jobs.

Henry Thornton is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can contact him by email: [email protected] or on Twitter @HenryThornton95.

Don’t miss out!  Subscribe today to have Alabama’s leading headlines delivered to your inbox.