General Motors announced today that it is nearly doubling its workforce at Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly by adding a second shift and more than 1,200 hourly and salaried jobs.
When hiring is complete, the plant's workforce will increase to approximately 2,800. GM would not comment on how many of those jobs will be filled by laid-off workers at other plants and how many would be brand-new hires.
The second shift, the company said in a statement, is needed to meet forecasted demand for the five cars that will be produced at Detroit-Hamtramck in 2016. The base for GM's electric-vehicle production, the plant currently builds the Chevrolet Volt, Impala and Malibu and Cadillac ELR on a single production line. Production of the Cadillac CT6 will be added to that line in early 2016.
Courtney Zemke, spokeswoman for the Detroit-Hamtramck plant, said that workers in the plant have a standardized process and switch up their work depending on which vehicle is coming down the line. "It could be a Volt, or an Impala or an ELR--you don't get a whole group [of one model] at the same time," she said.
The addition of a second shift "is the result of the award-winning vehicles Detroit-Hamtramck produces and the confidence GM has in our team to build world-class quality for our customers,” Plant Manager Gary West said in a statement.
Second shift hiring is underway, and the shift is scheduled to begin operations in early 2016.
The 4.1 million-square-foot Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly opened in 1985. GM has invested $1 billion in the plant over the last six years, including $449 million for production of the Chevrolet Volt.
Yesterday GM announced that, in close collaboration with LG, it would be producing an all-electric vehicle beginning in late 2016 that can go 200 miles on a single battery charge. The car, called the Bolt EV, will be priced in the $30,000 range--similar to what Tesla has announced for a 2017 vehicle called the Model E.
The Bolt EV will be produced at GM's Orion Township, Mich., assembly plant.
